Only Chega voted against the report, which “clears” Marcelo of treason and other crimes.

Chega was the only party to vote against the report, which concluded that there was no evidence that the President of the Republic had betrayed the country, with the other parties voting in favor.

The special parliamentary committee created to analyze the Chegi project, which required the parliament to initiate proceedings against the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, after statements about reparations to the former colonies, ended after two days and a short meeting.

In the final assessment of the report prepared by PS MP Isabel Moreira, all parties voted in favor, with the exception of Chegi.

Following a proposal by the commission’s president, socialist Marcos Perestrello, which was welcomed by all parties, this meeting consisted only of the presentation of Isabella Moreira’s report and there was no discussion. The debate will take place in plenary session on Friday.

The report of a special parliamentary committee concluded that “there is no evidence of the commission of crimes of treason against the country” or coercion of a constitutional body by the President of the Republic, contrary to what the Chegi project advocated.

“Because the President of the Republic has not used his functions, with or without gross abuse, for the usurpation of other sovereign powers or in any way for the benefit of any foreign state, nor has he performed any public or private act that could harm the sovereignty of the Portuguese State, and having analyzed the types of criminals referred to by the Chega Parliamentary Group, we have concluded that there is no evidence of the practice of crimes related to treason, coercion against a constitutional body, etc.,” can be read in conclusion of the report, which the Lusa agency had access to the day before.

In the six-page report, Isabel Moreira provides a legal analysis of the crimes Chega is accused of, starting with “Treason.”

“There was no attempt to secede the state, to hand it over to a foreign state or even to try to subject Portugal to foreign sovereignty, in part or in full, and the national independence of Portugal was not insulted or compromised,” he says.

Regarding “coercion against constitutional bodies,” the rapporteur concludes: “We have excluded this crime from the criteria of evidence. We have found no action on the part of the President of the Republic that would impede or restrict the free exercise of the functions of any sovereign body.”

Regarding the “usurpation of the public power of Portugal”, Isabel Moreira writes that “this article is also incomplete, since there is no record of any act of private power performed by the President of the Republic in favor of any foreign state.” “.

When taking office as a special parliamentary committee, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, considered that the nature of this committee was important because of the “seriousness of the facts at stake and would likely entail calling into question the regular functioning of sovereign bodies”, which justifies that the entire process took place “quickly and within the framework of the law.”

“In the worst case scenario, we will be able to vote on Friday in plenary session, which may even be convened for this purpose on an emergency basis, because I will be able to do it in accordance with our rules,” Aguiar-Branco said in a short speech in which wished “productive and high-quality work.”

The draft, presented by Chega on Monday to Parliament, calls for the initiation of proceedings against the President of the Republic for the crimes of high treason, coercion of constitutional bodies and usurpation.