The PCP delivered this Wednesday a bill so that the command posts of the National Maritime Authority cease to be occupied by Navy soldiers, and also wants an organic law of the Maritime Police.
In the statement of reasons for the initiative presented this day to the Assembly of the Republic, the communists defend the need to “adjust the National Maritime Authority to the current constitutional framework.” ensure proper separation between defense and security“.
In this context, they intend to eliminate “the obligation to appoint military personnel in the command posts of the National Maritime Authority” and adapt “the functions of the Navy General Staff to the constitutional reality.”
“This bill is part of the objective of promote discussion around issues aimed at the demilitarization of police functions, with the perfect notion, on the one hand, of the demands of a debate of this nature and, on the other, that it will not be possible to resolve once and quickly a framework that requires not only reflection, but also deep and comprehensive, but also will and determination”, they maintain.
Among the reforms, the PCP proposes that article 18 of the law of the National Maritime Authority read that “the Director General of the Maritime Authority is appointed by the member of the Government responsible for the area of National Defense”, instead of the current law. which establishes that this director “is a vice admiral appointed by order of the Minister of National Defense, at the proposal of the AMN.”
The second bill presented by the communists creates the organic law of the Maritime Police and was “constructed with the collaboration of the Associação Sócio Profissional da Polícia Marítima, corresponding to the resolution of an existing gap and the clarification of the nature of the Police. Maritime”.
“It is also important to solve a problem that has been identified for a long time, and that refers to the insufficiency of human resources, which is felt especially at a time of year when surveillance on the beaches implies a greater effort for professionals. that, in addition to carrying out this type of action, they also have to fulfill the remaining mission of the Maritime Police”, reads the explanatory statement.
The law proposed by the PCP defines that the Maritime Police (PM) “is a security force, uniformed, armed, with a public service character, with specialized competence in the areas and matters legally assigned to the Maritime Authority System, integrated into the administration of the State and endowed with administrative autonomy”.
“PM has a single organization for the entire national territory and its mission is to ensure democratic legality and guarantee the security and rights of citizens in the public aquatic domain and in maritime spaces under Portuguese sovereignty or jurisdiction, under the terms of the Constitution of the Republic, in accordance with national legislation. and with the international treaties and agreements ratified by the Portuguese State”, reads article 1.
The second article establishes that “the PM reports to the member of the Government responsible for the area of National Defense.”
As for the national director, the PCP proposal defines that “he is appointed by the member of the Government responsible for the area of National Defense, and can be selected from among the PM officers.”
Source: Observadora
