The president of Chega, André Ventura, accused the PS this Monday of preventing an agreement for the election of members to several external bodies of the Assembly of the Republic, including the Constitutional Court and the Council of State, arguing that the exclusion of Chega creates a 'very embarrassing impasse' and prevents institutions from reflecting the current political landscape.
The list of representatives elected by the Assembly of the Republic for external bodies, such as the Council of State, the Ombudsman's Office, and three Constitutional Court judges, which was due to be presented this Monday, has been postponed again. The President of the Assembly of the Republic received a request from the PS parliamentary group to revisit the issue at the leaders' conference, which will only take place on March 25th, as the usual meeting with representatives of parliamentary forces had also been delayed by a week. The difficulty in finding a consensual list, particularly among the three largest parliamentary groups (PSD, Chega, and PS), has led to constant delays in recent months. The Ombudsman's Office has remained without a permanent head since Maria Lúcia Amaral was appointed Minister of Justice following the May 18, 2025 elections—leaving the government without being replaced in her previous role—and the death of Pinto Balsemão and the withdrawal of Pedro Nuno Santos from active politics have left the Council of State without two members. Throughout the negotiations, Social Democratic parliamentary leader Hugo Soares argued that the PS bench should have the right to nominate a candidate for the Ombudsman's Office, maintaining the practice used when the PSD is in power, despite the fact that the second-largest parliamentary bench is now Chega. There have also been obstacles from the Socialists regarding the idea of a jurist nominated by André Ventura's party being elected to the Constitutional Court. On the other hand, there is a real impasse regarding the fifth member elected by the Assembly of the Republic, with a consensus that the PSD should retain two members, and that Chega and PS should each nominate one. Currently, the PS has two (Carlos César and Pedro Nuno Santos), but the latest legislative elections resulted in Chega electing more deputies, despite having fewer voters. According to the schedule agreed upon at the leaders' conference, the vote on the list for external bodies was supposed to take place in the plenary session on April 1st, which has become unfeasible with the postponement of the list's presentation to March 25th.
It is not because we are well-intentioned that we compromise and reach an agreement. The current political impasse with three parties of equal strength cannot be overcome with goodwill, but rather with the defeat of one of them.
Observador
Political impasse in Portugal · Lisboeta · Lisboeta
