The SDP considered this Wednesday that the official welcoming meeting of the President of Brazil “deserves a worthy holding of a separate day”, reiterating that it would be preferable not to hold it on 25 April.
Speaking to reporters in the Assembly of the Republic, SDP parliamentary leader Joaquim Miranda Sarmento stressed that it is very important for the party that the two sessions are not mixed up and assured that the Social Democrats respect the decision to hold both sessions on the same day “on the agenda days and for diplomatic reasons”, and who will be represented by the entire bench.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s welcome meeting in the Assembly of the Republic will take place on April 25 at 10:00 am, ahead of the 11:30 pm commemoration of the Revolution, which was decided this Wednesday by a decision of the leaders’ conference.
“The position of the PSD was clear from the very beginning: we welcome the arrival of the President of Brazil, a very important country in relations with Portugal, we welcome the fact that the Assembly of the Republic holds an official session with the President of Brazil. , to which we said that this could never be with the solemn meeting on April 25 and this would not happen and that, preferably, it should not even be on that day, ”said Miranda Sarmento.
The PSD Bench Chair welcomed that “there was no decision to combine the formal meeting with the reception” of Lula da Silva, despite the regret “that they are both on the same day”.
“The ceremonial meeting with the President of Brazil will be derailed, it has earned the honor of having its own day,” he said, dismissing any protest from his bench.
Asked about IL’s decision to be institutionally represented only by the leader of the parliament and positions against Chega in the presence of Lula da Silva, Miranda Sarmento said that it was not his job to comment on the decisions of other parties.
“Responsible parties who intend to become a government and have never been one before, and parties such as the SDP, which have already been a government and will very soon become a government, must understand that there are diplomatic issues and that Brazil is one of the most important partners that Portugal has for historical, cultural and economic reasons,” he said.
Miranda Sarmento rejected the view that Lula da Silva’s reception in the Assembly of the Republic could overshadow the official session on 25 April.
“I don’t think so, I think that the President of Brazil deserved to have his official session on a certain day, and not on the day when we have had a solemn session for many years, reminiscent of the day the Estado Novo ended and the democratic process in Portugal “, – he said.
About a month ago, head of state Marcelo Rebelo de Souza criticized right-wing parties in parliament for opposing Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s speech at a formal meeting on April 25.
“How could one start a debate about the presence of the representative of the people and the state, which was the forerunner, the pioneer in the stages of the Portuguese decolonization, on April 25, as if it were not an obvious reality, as natural as breathing?” he asked, concluding that “our democracy is still very imperfect.”
Last September, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza addressed the Brazilian Congress, in Brasilia, at a ceremonial meeting dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s independence.
In December, when he traveled to Brasilia for the inauguration of Lula da Silva, the Portuguese head of state announced that the Brazilian President would travel to Portugal for a Portuguese-Brazilian summit and state visit from 22 to 25 April this year, culminating in his participation in the ceremony on 25 April .
In February, Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho spoke bluntly in a speech by the President of Brazil to the Assembly of the Republic session on April 25, noting its unprecedented nature, causing controversy and drawing criticism for being a ceremony. under the responsibility of Parliament.
SDP President Luis Montenegro then accused the Foreign Minister of committing an “unforgivable gaffe” when the Brazilian President spoke on 25 April, which he considered “unacceptable” and demanded a “solution”.
Instead of addressing the President of Brazil at the solemn annual commemorative meeting on April 25, Parliament decided to hold a separate welcoming session during the state visit of Lula da Silva to Portugal, which is known this Wednesday to take place on the same day, just 90 minutes before .
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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