Sebastian Bugallo says it is difficult to balance freedom of expression and respect for rights

The head of the AD list for Europeans said this Saturday that it is difficult to balance freedom of speech for MPs and respect for minorities and rights, arguing that every president deals with the issue with common sense.

“I think the balance between freedom of expression for MPs and respect for minorities and rights is a difficult balance, and every president of every chamber does it with common sense,” Sebastián Bugallo told reporters at the end of a campaign lunch with activists in Ponte. de Lima, Viana do Castelo district.

The head of the list of the Democratic Alliance, a coalition uniting PSD, CDS-PP and PPM, was questioned over the fact that the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, refused to censor and limit the freedom of speech of deputies after the leader of Chegi said that “the Turks are not exactly known as the hardest working people in the world.”

Asked by reporters what he would do if he were Aguiar-Branco, Bugallo noted that “the people listening at home will probably laugh, because at 28 years old I will definitely not be the second figure in the state.”

Bugalho began by telling reporters that “whenever someone crosses the human rights barrier, whenever someone falls behind what is expected of Portuguese democracy in terms of rights,” AD’s candidacy does not remain “silent.”

“Every time the rights of a minority, someone persecuted, human rights were put at the center of this European campaign, we were the first to speak out and condemn it,” he stressed.

The President of the Assembly of the Republic said on Friday that it was not his responsibility to censor the positions or opinions of deputies, referring any possible criminal liability for parliamentary speech to the prosecutor’s office.

Answering questions from reporters, Aguiar-Branco said he made a mistake by allowing Chega leader Andre Ventura to continue his intervention, saying that “Turks are not exactly known as the hardest working people in the world.” world”.

“I don’t think I make a mistake when I allow freedom of expression (…). If a crime is committed in the responsible or irresponsible exercise of freedom of expression, the prosecutor’s office has the right to initiate criminal proceedings. “Any citizen can file a corresponding complaint and demand the removal of parliamentary immunity,” he said.

Aguiar-Branco said that the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic are “very clear” and when it comes to insult or slander, “it means insult and slander that are practiced against another deputy.”

“It is unacceptable that an MP can insult another MP,” he said, calling on parties to reconsider the Standing Orders if they have a different understanding and warning that “they all have glass ceilings.”

“If there are those who understand that the Rules need to be changed, at least in the sense that the Chairman of the Assembly [da República] to have the right to censor, to do this, to propose that,” he said.

The President of Parliament recalled that the current Assembly of the Republic is “an expression of the popular will of the Portuguese people” and expressed the opinion that when voters go to the polls again, they will evaluate “the way their representatives act” in parliament.