The first plenary session of the new parliament began on Tuesday. The Assembly of the Republic, elected in legislative elections on March 10, will elect a new President of Parliament, as well as vice-presidents and secretaries.
by minute
Updated March 26, 2024 | 12:48
Paulo Portas thrilled as CDS plaque installed in Parliament
Paulo Portas is thrilled as CDS installs a plaque in the chamber he will occupy in Parliament.
The session will resume at 15:00.
The final composition of the commission to verify the powers of elected deputies has been approved.
The work was interrupted and will resume again at 15:00, when a new chairman of parliament will be elected.
Joaquim Miranda Sarmento asks António Filipe to chair the meeting
PSD deputy Joaquim Miranda Sarmento begins his speech by welcoming the deputies elected to the legislature on March 10th.
Joaquim Miranda Sarmento also asked the communist António Filipe to chair the meeting. as he is considered to be the oldest parliamentarian serving in the Assembly of the Republic.
“Good morning, deputies, civil servants and journalists. I ask law enforcement officials to open the galleries and we will begin the 16th Legislature in accordance with the 1976 Constitution. I’m honored to be here. When I was 26 years old, I joined this. The Assembly was far from imagining that one day this would happen to me, but life has its games,” the communist joked.
The PSD then appointed deputy José Cesario as temporary secretary, and the PS appointed socialist Palmira Maciel.
The composition of the commission to verify the credentials of deputies was read out, and the leader of the socialist bench, Eurico Brillante Díaz, asked to speak for amendments.
“Deputy José Cesario has just read out the names of five PS deputies and read out six names. The minutes need to be corrected so that there are six names from the PS, which is also the largest bench in this chamber,” he said, causing some laughter in the room since the PS has 78 MPs, like the SDP.
Work begins on a new parliament
The meeting began at 10:16, with some delay and noise in the semicircle, where many first-time deputies and others already familiar with the “house of democracy” exchanged greetings, hugs and took a few “selfies.”
On the benches on the left, MPs from the PS, BE, PCP and Livre exchanged greetings, while Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos spoke for several minutes with Paulo Raimundo, Mariana Mortagua and Rui Tavares.
Red fabric carnations were placed in front of some of the seats on the BE bench.
PSD President Luis Montenegro arrived at parliament a few minutes after 10:00, accompanied by the still Social Democratic leader of parliament, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and his appointed successor, Hugo Soares.
As soon as he entered the half-cycle, Luis Montenegro gave a big hug to CDS-PP President Nuno Melo, coalition partner of the Democratic Alliance (AD), and also greeted IL President Rui Rocha and then left-wing leaders, including Pedro Nuno Santos.
At the end of the greeting, Chega President Andre Ventura spoke and was hugged by Montenegro.