The president of the Assembly of the Republic confirmed this Monday the new postponement, this time to March 6, of the elections for the State Council, Ombudsman and Constitutional Court, stating that he hopes it will be the last time.
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco took this position in statements to journalists in Setúbal, after being questioned about the consensus reached between parties with parliamentary representation to postpone once again, this time from Friday to March 6, the election of the Ombudsman, five members of the Council of State and three judges of the Constitutional Court.
With this new calendar, parliament set the deadline for submitting candidacies until Thursday, February 26, at 6 pm.
In front of journalists, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco argued that filling the missing positions in the TC, Council of State and Ombudsman “was a matter that could and should have already happened”.
“On several occasions, I took this matter to the conference of leaders, which also touches on the prestige of the Assembly of the Republic”, he highlighted.
However, the president of the Assembly of the Republic later noted that, in the current legislature, there is a fragmented parliament” from a political point of view, which makes it more difficult to achieve the qualified majorities required for some of these positions in question.
“Although there has now been this postponement, which had to bring together the unanimity of the parties and parliamentary benches to happen, I hope this will be the last time this happens. I hope that with this postponement it will be possible to reach consensus on the presentation of candidates, so that all positions are filled”, declared.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic even made a point of highlighting that, with the filling of the missing seats, “democracy and the system of institutional relationships between the sovereign bodies become more perfect”.
When asked about the causes of the current negotiating impasse, which mainly involves the largest parliamentary groups – the PSD, Chega and PS -, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco referred this question to the parties.
“It’s a question that has to be asked of parliamentary leaders. But, of course, When qualified majorities are required, this requires negotiation efforts between the various parliamentary groups. And, when parliamentary groups are very close in terms of representation, I admit that this is a factor that certainly does not facilitate the achievement of qualified majorities.he added.
However, according to the president of the Assembly of the Republic, all parties share the understanding “that it will be prestigious for the Assembly of the Republic to fill these positions”.
“But there are, let’s say, these difficulties inherent in a difficult formation of will, in a majority that has to be qualified as two-thirds. Therefore, this requirement makes the equation more complicated”, he added.
Since the beginning of the current legislature, parliament has scheduled these elections several times, but they have been successively postponed due to the lack of a global agreement between the three largest political forces: PSD, Chega and PS.
In these negotiations, due to the current parliamentary configuration, the PSD is the central party, as no two-thirds majority can be formed in parliament without the participation of the Social Democrats. And the elections of the Ombudsman and the three judges of the Constitutional Court require precisely two-thirds majorities.
The position of Ombudsman has been unfilled since the beginning of the legislature, when Maria Lúcia Amaral began to perform the role of Minister of Internal Administration.
As regards the Constitutional Court, it now operates with only 11 judges, instead of 13, until new ones are elected by parliament. And, among these 11 judges currently in office, one has already completed nine years in office.
The Council of State, a political body that consults the President of the Republic, includes among its members “five citizens elected by the Assembly of the Republic, in accordance with the principle of proportional representation, for the period corresponding to the duration of the legislature”.
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