First session of the XVI legislature lasted about 10 minutes

The first plenary session of the XVI legislature lasted around ten minutes today and was presided over by the communist António Filipe, nominated by the PSD, with the leader of the social democratic bench convinced that it will continue until the end, in 2028.

The session started at 10:16, with some delay and buzz in the hemicycle, where many first-time deputies and others already familiar with the “house of democracy” exchanged greetings, hugs and took some ‘selfies’.

On the benches on the left, deputies from PS, BE, PCP and Livre exchanged greetings, with the socialist leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, speaking for a few minutes with Paulo Raimundo, Mariana Mortágua and Rui Tavares.

In front of some seats on the BE bench were placed red fabric carnations.

The president of the PSD, Luís Montenegro, arrived at parliament a few minutes after 10:00, accompanied by the still social-democratic parliamentary leader, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and his appointed successor, Hugo Soares.

As soon as he entered the hemicycle, Luís Montenegro gave a big hug to the president of the CDS-PP, Nuno Melo, coalition partner of the Democratic Alliance (AD), and also greeted the president of IL, Rui Rocha, and then the leaders on the left , including Pedro Nuno Santos.

At the end of the greetings was the president of Chega, André Ventura, to whom Montenegro gave a hug.

As leader of the bench of the most voted party, the social democrat Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, flanked by the president of the PSD, Luís Montenegro, and the former minister and candidate for the presidency of the Assembly of the Republic, José Aguiar-Branco, was the first to to intervene.

Miranda Sarmento “welcomed” and wished “good work and the best of luck” to the 230 deputies who are now taking office, “without forgetting those who served this Assembly and the country in the last legislature and who did not resume their place as deputies ”.

The parliamentary leader wished that the deputies, despite their differences, contribute to “the country developing, to solving the problems that affect the daily lives of the Portuguese”.

“Contribute so that when this legislature ends, in September 2028, the country can be better, more developed, richer, more prosperous, but also more fair and thus bring a higher quality of life to the Portuguese”, he considered.

Then, the parliamentary leader of the PSD appointed the “oldest” deputy and “with the most days of experience”, the communist António Filipe, to preside over the work of the first session, since the outgoing president, Augusto Santos Silva, was not elected for this legislature, and the new president will be chosen this afternoon.

“Good morning, deputies, employees and journalists. I ask the agents of authority to open the galleries and we will then begin the 16th legislature under the 1976 Constitution. It is an honor to be here. When I joined this Assembly at 26 years of age, I was very far from imagining that one day this would happen to me, but life has these things to do”, joked the communist.

Then, the PSD appointed deputy José Cesário as temporary secretary and the PS the socialist Palmira Maciel.

The constitution of the commission to verify the powers of deputies was read and the leader of the socialist bench, Eurico Brilhante Dias, asked for the floor for a correction.

“Deputy José Cesário has just read five PS deputies and read six names. The minutes must be corrected to have six names from the PS, also the largest bench in this hemicycle”, he said, generating some laughter in the room, since the PS has 78 deputies like the PSD.

After approval of the draft resolution that constitutes the powers verification commission, António Filipe interrupted the session at 10:26, which will be resumed at 15:00 for the election of the president of the Assembly of the Republic.