This Wednesday, the president of the republic rejected doubts about the constitutionality of parliament’s decree to decriminalize medically assisted death, stating that he had vetoed it because of “a problem of precision” and that if confirmed “there will be no drama is”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, speaking to journalists in the gardens of the Palace of Belém in Lisbon, added that if the Assembly of the Republic chooses to amend the decree to accommodate its “very specific requests”, it will not reason not to do so. to run it.
“If the Assembly votes to keep the same version, I am bound to promulgate it. If it conforms to what I propose, I see no reason not to promulgate it – for if I propose it, it is because I understand that it must be accepted In one case I am thank you, otherwise I do it because the Assembly accepted my proposal”he claimed.
According to the head of state, he has raised the issues “these are points that have nothing to do with a problem of unconstitutionality, it is a problem of accuracy”.
Asked about the possibility of parliament confirming the decree in its current form – an option explicitly defended this Wednesday by Bloco de Esquerda and Iniciativa Liberal and more indirectly by the PS – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa remarked: “There’s no drama, it’s life”.
According to the constitution, the Assembly of the Republic, despite having a right of veto, can confirm the vote by an absolute majority of the deputies in office, 116 out of 230, and in this case the President of the Republic shall confirm the diploma within eight days of receipt .
The President of the Republic sent the first decree on this matter to the Constitutional Court in February 2021, vetoed the second, in November of the same year, and also sent the third for preventive inspection, in January of this year. The two submissions to the Constitutional Court were vetoed for unconstitutionality.
Now, faced with the fourth version, he again opted for the political veto, without using the right of preventive inspection, and asked parliament to “clarify who defines the patient’s physical inability to administer lethal drugs to himself to administer, and who should ensure medical supervision during medically assisted death”.
In this Wednesday’s letter addressed to the Assembly of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa states that “given this sensitivity and given the very short parliamentary debate on the last two amendments, it seems sensible that all conceptual clarification is ensured, even by the step data and its largely original character in comparative law”.
Source: DN
