The president of the Assembly of the Republic asked, this Wednesday, the PSD, Chega and PS to present their candidates for the four open seats in the Constitutional Court by Tuesday, with a view to possibly scheduling elections.
This order from José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, to which the Lusa agency had access, has already been sent to all parliamentary groups and single deputies of the Assembly of the Republic and came in response to a Chega’s applicationon Tuesday, in order to convene an extraordinary conference of leaders to “ensure the regular functioning” of the sovereign body Constitutional Court, through the rapid calling of elections.
For the president of the Assembly of the Republic, “the assessment of the urgency invoked” by Chega must bear in mind that the communication of resignation presented by the president of the TC, José João Abrantes, on Tuesday, “expressly provides that the respective production of effects will only occur from the inauguration of the judge advisor that the Assembly of the Republic will elect to occupy the corresponding vacancy”.
“To this extent, and contrary to the assumption stated in the request presented [pelo Chega]there is currently no situation of four simultaneously vacant positions in the TC. Yes, there are still three vacancies currently unfilled, in addition to a resignation already communicated, but whose effect is deferred until the moment the judge who is elected to the corresponding position takes office”, counters José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
However, for the president of the Assembly of the Republic, this circumstance “does not diminish the institutional importance of the matter nor the need for the Assembly of the Republic to continue, as quickly as possible, the procedures necessary to conclude the pending electoral process”.
In this sense, says the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court, which provides that candidacies “are presented in a complete list, by a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 50 deputies, before the president of the Assembly of the Republic, up to five days before the meeting scheduled for the election, and must be duly provided with evidence of the candidates’ eligibility and the respective declarations of acceptance of candidacy”.
In early April, the of the new TC judges for May, already counting on the possibility of having to replace one more judge, that is, four instead of three. The election of new judges – which is carried out by secret ballot and involves two-thirds of the votes – has been successively postponed since the beginning of the legislature.
In his order, the president of the Assembly of the Republic also argues that “he has taken, since the first hour, an active stance in promoting the scheduling of elections for bodies external to the Assembly of the Republic, including the election of judges to the TC”.
“The failure, to date, of some of these elections was not due to the inertia of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, but rather to the lack of formally presented candidacies or successive requests to postpone electoral acts already scheduled, formulated by different parliamentary groups, including the requesting Parliamentary Group itself. [o Chega]”, maintains Aguiar-Branco.
Still in relation to Chega’s request, the president of parliament emphasizes that, “only with this information” regarding the candidates “will it be possible to assess the immediate usefulness of an extraordinary meeting of the leaders’ conference”.
“Or, alternatively, prepare the consideration of the matter at the leaders’ conference meeting already scheduled for May 20, 2026, ensuring, in any case, full compliance with the applicable legal regime”, concludes the president of parliament.
In the order from the President of the Assembly of the Republic, it is also determined that the Constitutional Affairs Committee must be notified to inform, by Tuesday, what period it considers necessary to carry out the parliamentary hearings of the candidates who may be nominated by the PSD, PS and Chega.
