The sectorial debate with the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, this Friday, was marked by a controversy involving the leader of Chega, André Ventura, but which ended up falling, above all, on the president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco. The incident has already led to numerous criticisms from various political figures. It all started with an intervention by André Ventura who, when questioning the ten years foreseen for the construction of the new Lisbon airport, said the following: "We can be much better than the Turks, the Chinese, the Albanians, we will have an airport in five years". "“The Istanbul airport was built and operationalised in five years, the Turks are not exactly known for being the most hard-working people in the world”, Ventura had started by saying, amidst protests from several benches, with Aguiar-Branco asking that he be allowed to continue his speech because “the deputy has freedom of expression to express himself”.

Immediately, the parliamentary leader of the BE, Fabian Figueiredo, asked to speak to defend that "attributing characteristics and stereotypes to a people should have no place in the democratic debate of the Assembly of the Republic" and apologised to the Turkish ambassador. In his response, the president of the Assembly of the Republic said he disagreed with this view. "“I do not agree, because democratic debate is each person being able to express themselves exactly as they want to. In the opinion of the president of the Assembly, the work is being conducted ensuring the free expression of all deputies, it has nothing to do with what I personally think, I will not be the censor of any of the deputies”, he stated. The parliamentary leader of the PS, Alexandra Leitão, also asked to speak to question "if a certain bench says that a certain race or ethnicity is more stupid or lazy, can they also". "“In my opinion, they can. Freedom of expression is constitutionally enshrined. The evaluation of the political discourse that is made here in this house will be made by the people in elections”, replied the president of the Assembly of the Republic. Aguiar-Branco proposed that "if there is anyone who thinks that the intervention of the deputies should be censored, they should appeal the decision of the president of the Assembly". "“And then the plenary will carry out the censorship, it will not be me”, he said. Isabel Mendes Lopes, parliamentary leader of Livre, asked to speak to stress that "racism is a crime" and that what is said in Parliament "has a direct consequence in people's lives". "I will not continue with this topic, the Assembly has numerous procedural mechanisms to express its opinion. You can be sure of one thing, I will never curtail freedom of expression", said Aguiar-Branco, in an intervention applauded while standing by the Chega bench. The moment was quickly reported and the criticisms of Aguiar-Branco multiplied on social media.

"Red line", "Unbelievable", "Crime", "Unacceptable". Criticisms multiply

A first reaction came from the socialist Isabel Moreira. 

"Aguiar Branco has just said that stating, for example, that one ethnicity is lazier or more stupid than another is freedom of expression. He does not interrupt whoever says it. For the PAR, interrupting racist, xenophobic, criminal words is 'censorship'. And so he had 50 deputies standing and applauding. Indifferent to the practical effects of his stance", wrote the deputy on the social network X. "How is it possible, Aguiar-Branco? We cannot address you informally, which I think is good, but can we say anything?", she also questioned.

Aguiar Branco acaba de dizer que afirmar, por exemplo, que uma etnia é mais preguiçosa ou mais burra que outra é liberdade de expressão . Não interrompe quem o disser. Para o PAR, interromper palavras racistas, xenófobas, criminosas, é “censura” . E assim teve 50 deputados de pé…

— Isabel Moreira (@IsabelLMMoreira) May 17, 2024

Also from the socialist bench, criticism also came from Eurico Brilhante Dias, recalling the former president of the Assembly of the Republic Augusto Santos Silva. "Today a red line was crossed. The violation of article 89, paragraph 3 of the Regulations is evident. The position of the President is, in this case, unacceptable. It was for this reason that for two years Augusto Santos Silva had to intervene", he criticised on the same social network.

Hoje foi trespassada uma linha vermelha. A violação do n° 3 do artigo 89 do Regimento é evidente. A posição do Senhor Presidente é, neste caso inaceitável. Foi por isto durante dois anos o Augusto Santos Silva teve que intervir. #XVILegislatura #GPPShttps://t.co/RPQjhJ1JYz

— Eurico BRILHANTE DIAS (@BrilhanteDias) May 17, 2024

The socialist Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro referred to the incident as "unbelievable". "Aguiar-Branco has no idea of the position he holds and apparently does not know the Constitution, the law and the regulations of the AR", he wrote on X.

Inacreditável.

Aguiar-Branco não tem noção do lugar que ocupa e pelos vistos desconhece a Constituição, a lei e o regimento da AR. pic.twitter.com/KW62VCECcU

— Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro (@tbribeiro) May 17, 2024

Mariana Vieira da Silva, current deputy and former minister, considered that what happened "cannot leave us indifferent". "What is the use of no means no if the discourse starts to get confused? Or if everything is allowed? What happened this morning in the Assembly of the Republic cannot leave us indifferent. Because there are lines that cannot be crossed", she considered.

De que vale o não é não se o discurso se começa a confundir? Ou se se permite tudo? O que se passou esta manhã na Assembleia da República não nos pode deixar indiferentes. Porque há linhas que não se podem ultrapassar.

— Mariana VdS (@margvs) May 17, 202

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