Ventura was about to close the debate on the immigration referendum without any party speaking. CDS assured that he asked to speak, the president of the Assembly said no, but the debate took place.
What began looking like a boycott of the proposed referendum on immigration, brought to the Assembly of the Republic by Chega, ended up being a debate in which neither party was silent. And it was the responsibility of the CDS-PP, which, through the voice of João Almeida, rejected that immigration “passes as an issue that cannot be debated.”
Now, the history of the debate began with Chega’s initial intervention, where Vanessa Barata argued that immigrant quotas are necessary to “distinguish between those who come for good and are necessary and those who come to disrespect and attack the people and security” in Portugal. , highlighting the need to carry out “complementary efforts” to combat “uncontrolled immigration.”
In the following minutes, the then acting president of the Assembly of the Republic, Teresa Morais, warned of the lack of registration of the remaining parties so that the debate could continue (“I think that enough time has passed for leaders of the benches to decide what to do”) and, without answers, he called André Ventura to the stand to close the debate. With the president of Chega ready to begin his speech, Teresa Morais asked him to wait a few seconds to clarify, since João Almeida assured that he had asked to speak to intervene in the debate. The CDS deputy assured that he did so before the registration deadline, the Assembly of the Republic table maintained that he did not, but André Ventura returned to his seat and allowed a different direction for the debate.
“All issues deserve to be debated and we will never let the issue of immigration pass as an issue that cannot be debated. What was missing was that we had to discuss absurd proposals from BE, PCP and Livre so many times and today we have not taken advantage of our time to intervene,” the Christian Democrat deputy began by saying, which provoked applause on the Chega bench, and he felt obliged to emphasize that he was there to “disagree” with the referendum proposal.
In his speech, João Almeida also recalled that “the quota policy already existed under the pressure of the CDS”, but that “it was never efficient in Portugal”, he stressed that “rigor is necessary in the entry and exit” of immigrants – “Only those who legally have this right can enter” – and also the capacity of the State “to be able to monitor and expel those who are here illegally.”
From then on everyone wanted to talk. Paula Cardoso, of the PSD, applauded many on the left with a speech in which she stated that the “referendum will not solve the problems of immigrants as if it were a miracle,” especially because she considers quotas a “clear violation of fundamental rights.” ”. and human rights.” The deputy understands that the quotas would be like a “catalogue election” and rejected the idea that people who arrive in Portugal do so with criminal motivations or to live in bad conditions.
Recalling the Portuguese emigrants who often left the country illegally in search of better living conditions, the social democratic deputy also stressed that “human rights are not supported” and that “people are not deprived of their right to work and their right to choose where, how and with whom they want to live.” “It is not worthy of a democratic State to treat people as if they were commodities.”
This was followed by Mariana Leitão who, on behalf of the Liberal Initiative, deconstructed what she says are myths used by Chega to feed the narrative of uncontrolled immigration, based on the idea that there is a “demographic replacement” when Portugal is a country from “immigrants and emigrants” to the fact that immigrants contribute to a “positive balance” in Social Security. For the liberals, the referendum proposal only serves to “turn the people against the people.”
The PAN, through the voice of Inês Sousa Real, considers that “the solution raises serious doubts from the point of view of constitutionality”, which is why the party refuses to align itself with “boasting“. The deputy also recalled that the referendum “began as a condition” of the State Budget, an argument also used by António Filipe, of the PCP: “The proposal has already lost its validity as a bargaining chip and today it has no value. “Previously, the communist deputy even recovered from the near-boycott to say that “there was an expectation that everyone would treat this Chega proposal as it deserved to be treated: letting the proponents speak for themselves.” All because the proposal, in the opinion of António Filipe , “it is garbage and it is like garbage that must be treated.”
Isabel Moreira, of the PS, accuses Chega of acting on the proposal “in the same way” as he would “if there could be a referendum: simplifying, dividing, generating divisions, spreading disinformation.” “We are not going to waste another minute helping to normalize hatred, we are going to repeat what needs to be said in the house of democracy: thank you to all those who choose Portugal to live and forgive us when we fail you,” he stated, denying that There is some link between immigration and the increase in crime.
Mariana Mortágua, from the Left Bloc, began by addressing congresswoman Paula Cardoso to say that “it would be good if the PSD policy was more in line with its words instead of repeating the rhetoric of uncontrolled immigration and changing the law in line with this ”. rhetoric.” “By ending the immigrant regularization mechanism, the Government is opening the doors wide to illegal immigration,” warned the bloc’s deputy, explaining that immigrants continue to enter but without being legalized: “It is a “a policy that defends clandestinity and benefits the mafia and unscrupulous bosses.”
Livre, through Paulo Muacho, also pointed out that “the only arguments that Chega presents are lies” and that he is only capable of “reproducing the Trumpist lies that he hears abroad.”
At the end of the debate that was about to take place, André Ventura made it clear that, in the moment of truth, the parties “do not have the courage to give the Portuguese a voice in the decision on immigration because they know they would lose.” ”.
“The country needs quotas for immigrants and their regulation,” said Ventura, underlining that he was quoting Carlos Moedas and highlighting that those words were not spoken by Chega, but by the president of the Lisbon City Council elected by the PSD: “It is” “It is so good that the PSD falls into the true essence of the right-wing fight against illegal immigration in this country,” he concluded. The Chega leader also stated that Parliament “does not live in the streets of the country” and that he is unaware of the “enormous invasion of people” in several municipalities in the country.
In reference to António Filipe, and pointing his finger towards the benches on the left, he also said: “We will never allow ourselves to be associated with those who, calling us trash, are the trash of the history of this house, of Europe and of the world”. The words even earned him a reprimand from José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, president of the Assembly of the Republic, saying that António Filipe had described the referendum proposal as “garbage” and not the deputies: “I don’t think it is the urban treatment We deserve it here in the Assembly.”
Source: Observadora
