Deputies chose the four vice-presidents of Parliament. Chega elects Pacheco de Amorim

To be elected, the names proposed by the four largest parties needed to reach at least 116 votes (absolute majority). It was this, in fact, that complicated the election of José Pedro Aguiar-Branco as president of the Assembly, an impasse that was only resolved when the PS joined its votes to those of PSD and IL.

Socialist Marcos Perestrello was the vice-president with the most votes, having received 169 votes in favor, 57 blanks and one null. Teresa Morais followed, with 140 votes in favor, 86 white votes and also one null vote. Rodrigo Saraiva had 144 votes in favor, 82 blanks and one null and, finally, Pacheco de Amorim achieved 129 votes in favor, in addition to 82 blanks and one null.

The new vice-presidents will assist Aguiar Branco and, when appropriate, replace him in carrying out the work.

Pacheco de Amorim has a history linked to far-right movements

Pacheco de Amorim is the most controversial name among the four newly elected. Now 75 years old, he was a young member of the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal, an organization suspected of carrying out several bomb attacks against left-wing parties in the 1970s. One of them resulted in the death of a priest and a student.

The now Chega deputy also worked for the CDS and Nova Democracia. He is seen as one of the ideologues of André Ventura’s party, having contributed to the elaboration of the various programs of the political force that rose the most in the last legislative elections.

Teresa Morais, aged 64, was Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Equality in the first Passos Coelho Government, between 2011 and 2015. She also served as Minister of Culture in the second Passos Executive, which lasted just one month.

Marcos Perestrello, 53 years old, was Secretary of State for Defense in the first Government of António Costa. Rodrigo Saraiva is 47 years old and has been an IL deputy since 2022, having served as parliamentary leader.