Deputies Francisco Assis and José Pedro Aguiar-Branco failed again in the election for president of the Assembly of the Republic, as neither obtained the necessary absolute majority.
The socialist Francisco Assis obtained 90 votes, the social democrat Aguiar-Branco 88 and there were 52 white votes, in the third failed attempt to elect the next president of the Assembly of the Republic.
The result of the votes was announced by PCP deputy António Filipe, who temporarily presides over parliament, in the first plenary session of the 16th legislature, which began more than 12 hours ago, at 10 am, with several suspensions of work in between.
According to the Rules of Procedure, “the candidate who obtains the absolute majority of the votes of the deputies in office is elected President of the Assembly of the Republic”, that is, 116.
The first election of the president of parliament, carried out by secret vote, began at 3 pm, with only the social democratic deputy José Pedro Aguiar-Branco as candidate.
At 5 pm, the first failure of this election for President of the Assembly of the Republic was announced, as the former Minister of Defense obtained 89 votes in favor, 134 blank and seven null.
About an hour later the PSD withdrew its candidacy, but at 7pm the former Minister of Defense resubmitted it.
At the same time, the PS decided to move forward with the candidacy of Francisco Assis and Chega of Manuela Tender.
In the first round, the socialist wins by a short margin (90 against 88 for Aguiar-Branco) and Chega’s deputy would be left behind with 49 votes.
In the second round – third election attempt -, another failure was repeated, with very similar results: 90 votes for Assis and 88 for Aguiar-Branco, without either of them achieving the necessary absolute majority of votes in favor.
Parliament will meet again on Wednesday at 12:00 pm for a new vote for the position of president of the Assembly of the Republic, after three failed attempts this Tuesday, with candidacies being able to be submitted until 11:00 am.
