Tiago Petinga/Lusa
In the year in which the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic turns 50, the possibility of Parliament once again opening a constitutional review process seems increasingly close.
PSD, CDS-PP, Chega and Initiative Liberal do not hide that they see space to revisit the Constitution, although without yet defining a clear calendar or a closed package of proposals, says this Saturday, which highlights the events of this past week.
The impasse surrounding the election for various external bodies of the Assembly of the Republic, especially the Constitutional Court, intensified fears on the left that the right is preparing a broader understandingwhich could culminate in a constitutional review, a hypothesis raised shortly after the last legislative elections.
For André Ventura, the opportunity is “historic”, he said this Saturday: for the first time in decades, right-wing parties together have the two-thirds majority necessary to approve changes to the fundamental law without depending on the PS.
Although the Prime Minister said, in May, that the constitutional review was not a priority nor had it been a campaign topic, he did not close the door on this scenario in the future.
Social-democratic deputy Paula Cardoso, president of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, defends precisely this line. In his reading, more than two decades since the last revision, it makes sense to reevaluate some aspects of the Constitution in light of the changes that have occurred in the country and in the world. But he insists that this is review, not break.
Among the themes that could return to the table in the PSD will be the introduction of support resource before the Constitutional Court, changes to the electoral law and a review of the role of the Republic’s representative in the Autonomous Regions. But formal priorities or red lines have not yet been defined in this legislature.
The CDS-PP is also available. Vice-president Paulo Núncio considers constitutional review a plausible matter in this legislature and says that the party wants to contribute with proposals that make the Constitution more universal and ideologically neutral.
The Liberal Initiative was the party that first put itself in a position to advance. Shortly after the legislative elections, still under the leadership of Rui Rocha, he announced his intention to present a constitutional review project. Liberals defend three main axes of change: strengthening political and social freedoms, improving institutional architecture and a reformist and sustainable vision of the economy and society. Among the concrete measures they intend to see discussed are the elevation of private property to the category of fundamental right, the end of the constitutional obligation of the State to be the necessary provider of public health and education services, the review of the so-called economic constitution, the consecration of the principle of intergenerational solidarity and new individual rights in the face of artificial intelligence.
No He arrivesAndré Ventura has long advocated a profound change in the fundamental law and, in 2022, it was his party who triggered a review process. Over the years, Chega’s electoral programs have included proposals such as reduction in the number of deputies, life imprisonment, chemical castration and the elimination of language considered ideological.
Party sources admit to Expresso that the issue could take shape in the coming months, especially if Chega emerges politically strengthened from this process. A success in the election of external bodies would demonstrate that there is, after all, the capacity for understanding on the right to form constitutional majorities.
Mass numerical majority does not guarantee consensus. In the failed review process of 2023, there were rapprochements between right-wing parties on matters such as the complementarity of the SNS with the private and social sectors, or the removal of the expression “path to a socialist society” from the preamble of the Constitution, defended by IL and Chega. But there were also disagreements, such as with the liberal proposal to create a national compensation circle.
It has been 20 years since the last constitutional review, which means that An ordinary review period is open. In these cases, it is enough for a deputy to present a project to trigger the process. Afterwards, the remaining parties have one month to submit their proposals, and a constitutional review commission is then created to work on the specialized texts. In the end, nothing changes without 154 votes in favor — the qualified majority of two thirds of the deputies.
