About a year ago, Cristina Rodrigues was still the unregistered deputy, having left the People-Animals-Nature, which was fighting for gender equality and female menstrual poverty, for example. This Monday she was in the parliamentary sessions of Chega to explain the general lines of the constitutional revision project that the party will present in September.
After assuming roles as legal adviser to Chega, Cristina Rodrigues has had little prominence, with functions essentially behind the scenes of the party. The first parliamentary days of the party brought it back to the fore.
Criticizing the “revolving doors” between political power and the important institutions of society, Cristina Rodrigues explained that the party wants to “limit situations” such as that of former minister Ana Paula Vitorino, married to former minister Eduardo Cabrita, who, according to what arrives, regulated. shipping, as Minister of the Sea, and was then appointed a member of the Transport Authority. “It biases the independence that the holders of the positions should have, the idea that in the future they may have their own benefits can condition decisions,” said the party’s legal adviser.
In the field of prison sentences, Chega wants to end the sentence limit, instituting life imprisonment in Portugal, with the possibility of review, as in countries such as Germany or France. With data on convictions in Portugal (“in 2017 there were 93 people sentenced to the maximum sentence for 322 crimes such as murder, rape or robbery”), Cristina Rodrigues says that “rehabilitation is not always possible”.
Regarding illicit enrichment, the former deputy also said that “what was approved in the previous legislature is different from what was proposed”, considering all the changes that were made after Chega’s proposal was presented with the project in the Assembly of the Republic. “Almost 90% of the Portuguese believe that there is corruption in the government,” said Cristina Rodrigues before explaining the obstacle that Chega sees for criminalization: “Number 32 of the Constitution.” That is, the presumption of innocence.
Before concluding the speech, “Doctor Cristina Rodrigues” (as she was introduced every time she was spoken to) also addressed the issue of corruption and the place that Portugal occupies in the rankings perception of corruption. “In 2017, of all the people with processes for corruption, only 10% were sentenced to effective prison,” Cristina Rodrigues recalled.
“We are leaving a message that is not correct. There is an idea that there is no punishment for this type of crime, we encourage it to continue happening”, he said, underlining the need to “specialize police authorities for combat”.
With a panel that also included Fernando Silva and parliamentary leader Pedro Pinto, it was even Cristina Rodrigues who ended up having the longest speech, explaining all the work that she has been developing within the party that is preparing to present a constitutional review (condemned to the departure of the absolute socialist majority).
Source: Observadora
