PSD, Chega and PS reach an agreement for the TC. PS proposes new Ombudsman

According to the leader of the socialist bench, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the process for nominating candidates for Constitutional Court judges and ombudsman had “political dialogue” between the prime minister and the secretary general of the PS, in addition to the respective parliamentary leaders.

The PSD accepted the PT’s recommendation to propose Luisa Netocurrent president of the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Administration (INA), as a candidate for Ombudsman, an election that requires a two-thirds majority in parliament.

The election for the role of ombudsman is scheduled for June 12th.

It will be the second attempt in this legislature to elect a person to a position that is to be filled since the beginning of this legislature, when Maria Lucia Amaral She left that position to then serve as Minister of Internal Administration, a position from which she resigned at the beginning of this year.

On April 12, in a first failed election, the socialist former Secretary of State, proposed by the PS as Ombudsman, achieved a result less than two thirdshaving only 104 votes in favor out of a total of 230 deputies.

In a note to which Lusa had access, Eurico Brilhante Dias, leader of the PS bench, said that the process for nominating candidates for Constitutional Court judges and Ombudsman had “political dialogue” from the prime minister and the general secretary of the PS, in addition to the respective parliamentary leaders.

In the same note it is said that socialists hope that the electoral processes for choosing the Ombudsman, and the four judges for the Constitutional Court are effectively closedfor the good of the functioning of the Republic’s institutions.

Maria Luisa Neto She has a degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and a PhD from the University of Porto. She is a professor at the Faculty of Law at UP, and, since 2021, President of the INA. She is the author of several publications in the areas of Constitutional Law, Fundamental Rights and Bioethics.

PSD, Chega and PS deliver joint list to TC

For the joint list intended to fill vacancies in the TCthe PSD nominated Joaquim Cardoso da Costa and Paula Ribeiro Faria, PS Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues and Chega Luís Filipe Brites Lameiras.

Regarding the candidate proposed by Chegathe party leader, Andre Venturaannounced in March that he would propose Luís Filipe Brites Lameiras, who was a judge at the Lisbon and Porto Courts of Appeal, to the Constitutional Court.

Of the four judges to be replaced by parliament, José António Teles Pereira and Gonçalo Almeida Ribeiro, who resigned from their positions on October 1 last year, had been elected by PSD proposalwhile Joana Fernandes Costa and the president of the body, José João Abranteswhich , had been proposed by the PS.

As stated in his note by the president of the PS Parliamentary Group, after “a long process, the question around the TC is closed from a business point of view”.

The conclusion of this process, according to Eurico Brilhante Dias, happened, “naturally, after political dialogue” by the secretary general of the PS, José Luís Carneirowith the prime minister and president of the PSD, Luis Montenegro“and also between socialist and social-democratic parliamentary leaders.”

“Additionally, the PS proposed the name of professor Maria Luísa Neto”, current president of the National Institute of Administration, as Ombudsman.

A name that, according to Eurico Brilhante Dias, “was suggested after internal consultation and had positive opinion from someone who worked directly with the candidatein particular some of the members of the PS governments with whom he worked most directly.”

Still regarding the possibility of Luísa Neto being elected ombudsman, the leader of the socialist bench points out: “I was pleased to see that we can have more a woman on the State Council”.

“I hope that these processes are closed, in order to safeguard the Republic’s institutions and their proper functioning”, he concludes.