In response to the initiative by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, to hear from former presidents of the Constitutional Court (TC) at a conference of leaders on Wednesday about the freedom of speech of deputies and its compatibility with possible "red lines", the PS parliamentary group stated that this is "a matter of self-regulation of the functioning of the Assembly of the Republic that it should resolve on its own, within the framework of the powers and rules enshrined in the Assembly of the Republic's Standing Orders".

"Without prejudice to this understanding, the parliamentary group does not reject the proposal, referring the possibility or convenience of hearing from entities external to the Assembly of the Republic for discussion at a conference of leaders. This understanding prevents the immediate hearing of former Presidents of the Constitutional Court, but does not exclude it," the socialists also pointed out.

The BE parliamentary group also stressed, in its response to Aguiar-Branco's proposal, that this matter deserves "an initial debate" in this space "without resorting to external personalities or entities", "especially since this is a matter that the Assembly of the Republic, under its Standing Orders, can autonomously resolve".

In the response from the Livre parliamentary group, this party stated that the hearing of external entities should be debated at the conference of leaders and stressed that the matter is not only about "the limits of freedom of speech of members of parliament", but "about the duties of intervention of the President of the Assembly of the Republic".

The parliamentary leader of the PCP, Paula Santos, defended today that, more than listening to opinions, the President of the Assembly of the Republic should focus on complying with the Standing Orders, which she considered to be clear when it provides for his intervention in the face of "abusive and offensive speeches".

This initiative by the President of the Assembly of the Republic was sent to the presidents of the parliamentary groups and also to the sole deputy of the PAN, as well as to the "vice-presidents" 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 members of parliament and its possible compatibility with the establishment of red lines" would be addressed.

A question that arose on Friday morning, in plenary, after the leader of Chega, André Ventura, referred to the working capacities of the Turkish people in connection with 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, which 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 from former presidents of the Constitutional Court at 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. The President of the Assembly of the Republic therefore believes (...) that it is relevant to hear from former presidents of the Constitutional Court so that they can share their views and possible implications, especially in a context in which members of parliament benefit from increased freedom of speech when exercising their duties, through the institution of parliamentary immunities," the text reads.

Specifically, Aguiar-Branco believed 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: BE and Livre want to debate the freedom of speech of deputies (Portuguese version)