In a response to the initiative of the president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, to hear, in a conference of leaders, on Wednesday, former presidents of the Constitutional Court (TC) on the freedom of speech of deputies and compatibility with possible "red lines", the parliamentary group of the BE highlighted that this matter deserves "a first debate" in this space "without resorting to external personalities or entities".

"Especially because it is a matter that the Assembly of the Republic, under the terms of its regulation, can autonomously resolve", can be read in the response to which the Lusa agency had access.

The parliamentary group of Livre also stated, in a response to Aguiar-Branco, that the hearing of external entities to the Assembly of the Republic should be debated in the conference of leaders.

Livre also stressed that this debate is not only about "the limits of freedom of speech of the deputies", but "about the duties of intervention of the President of the Assembly of the Republic under the terms of no. 3 of art. 89 of the Regulation of the Assembly of the Republic".

"In this sense, we request that prior to the discussion in the conference of leaders, the comparative dossier of regulatory measures regarding decorum and parliamentary discourse of other European parliaments that was prepared in the last term, which may serve as a basis for the debate, be distributed to all parliamentary groups", he added, according to the response to which Lusa had access.

A parliamentary source had told Lusa that the PS, BE, Livre and PCP rejected Aguiar-Branco's initiative, sent to the presidents of the parliamentary groups and also to the sole deputy of the PAN, as well as to the "vice" of parliament and members of the board.

According to his proposal, at the beginning of this conference of leaders, "the issue of the scope of the limits of freedom of speech of the deputies and its possible compatibility with the establishment of red lines" would be addressed.

An issue that arose on Friday morning, in plenary, after the leader of Chega, André Ventura, referred to the work capacities of the Turkish people regarding the construction of the new Lisbon airport, which led the benches of the BE, Livre and PS to defend the intervention of the president of parliament to prevent this type of speech that they considered "xenophobic".

In the letter sent to the different parliamentary groups, to which the Lusa agency had access, the reason for Aguiar-Branco's proposal to hear former presidents of the Constitutional Court in a conference of leaders was justified.

"Considering that the theme in question is of special importance, with implications for the political system, it justifies a detailed analysis from a legal-constitutional point of view. Therefore, the president of the Assembly of the Republic understands that it is relevant to hear the former presidents of the Constitutional Court so that they can share their reading and possible implications, especially in a context in which the deputies benefit from a reinforcement of freedom of speech when they are in the exercise of their functions, through the institute of parliamentary immunities", reads the text.

Specifically, Aguiar-Branco understood that invitations should be addressed to José Manuel Cardoso da Costa, Rui Moura Ramos, Joaquim Sousa Ribeiro, Manuel da Costa Andrade and João Caupers.

Read Also: Former presidents of the TC on freedom of speech? PS, BE and Livre refuse (Portuguese version)