After three votes during the day and night this Tuesday, Parliament was unable to elect the president of the Assembly of the Republic. What’s next?
Parliament will now meet again in plenary this Wednesday, at 12:00, for a new vote. To do this, parties have until 11:00 to present their candidates.
Why is there an impasse?
The legislature started this Tuesday with a mission: to elect the president of the AR, but to do so, (some) consensus is needed. And everything pointed to that. Aguiar-Branco (PSD) was running alone and the expected scenario was a majority on the Right. But Chega stopped the election.
Surprise (and impasse) on day 1 of the new legislature: Is this a glimpse of the rest of governance?
After a pause, the plenary agreed to proceed to a second vote, giving time, before that, for the parties to meet and present new candidates.
At that time, they entered the race – in addition to Aguiar-Branco (PSD) – Francisco Assis (PS) and Manuela Tender (Chega). At this point, everything predicted a new impasse. And so it was. In the second vote, none of the candidates achieved a majority (116 votes).
The two most voted candidates followed for a second round (and third vote): the PSD candidate and the PS candidate, with the He now has the power to unblock the election in his hands.
But when everything seemed to indicate a consensus on the Right to elect Aguiar-Branco, Chega voted blank (and heavily) and kept Parliament suspended.
The results of the third vote
- Francisco Assis (PS): 90 votes
- Aguiar-Branco (PSD): 88 votes
- Blank votes: 52 votes
This means that Chega’s deputies once again stopped the election of Aguiar-Branco. With the support of André Ventura’s parliamentary group, Aguiar-Branco would have obtained 138 votes, more than necessary (116) to be elected.
António Filipe, the acting president during the first session of this legislature, ended the day with a touch of humor: “I would like to announce that, despite my unusual stay in office, I will not spend the night at the official residence”, which caused a general laugh in the plenary.
But, upon leaving the plenary, few were satisfied with the result.
André Ventura accused the PSD of “arrogance” and “not giving in”, insisting on Chega’s availability for an understanding with the Right. In turn, the PSD regretted the outcome and He was available to talk (with everyone).
Rui Rocha accused Ventura of holding Parliament “hostage to a tantrum” and, on the Right, Nuno Melo also lamented the “circus act”.
Socialist deputy Eurico Brilliant Dias revealed that the PS was never contacted for an agreement to elect the new president of the Assembly of the Republic and recalled that the socialists presented a candidate who won the votes twice.
On the Left, the PCP considered the succession of events “regrettable” and Livre blamed the PSD: “We heard the right talking about a parallel reality as if all this were unpredictable. What the PSD wanted was to maintain its ambiguity and its silence to the limit of the unsustainable”.
Inês de Sousa Real, PAN’s only deputy, asked the PSD to come closer to a “democratic choice” that would allow it to elect the president of the Assembly of the Republic.
First day finished. The name of who will take the place of the State’s second figure remains open. There is little convergence, but, above all, little certainty about who will be elected and when.
