🇵🇹 Portugal's politics and elections 2.0

[Mike88]

Eurosondagem poll for Sol newspaper/Porto Canal/other regional newspapers:

Vote share %:

39.5% PS (+0.2)
28.2% PSD (+1.0)
  7.5% CHEGA (+0.2)
  7.0% BE (+0.1)
  4.5% CDU (-0.3)
  2.5% PAN (+0.5)
  2.2% CDS (-0.3)   
  2.1% IL (-0.9)
  6.5% Others/Invalid (-0.5)

Poll conducted between 1 and 4 March 2021. Polled 1,010 voters. MoE of 3.08%.

[Mike88]

PCP celebrates 100 years as a party, with some controversy, and IL refuses a coalition with PSD in Lisbon:

The Communist Party is celebrating, today, their 100th anniversary. The party, founded in 1921, did a rally in downtown Lisbon today to mark the occasion. However, during the last few days some of the party's actions to celebrate their 100th anniversary created some controversy. The main roads and squares of the big cities were flooded with flags of the PCP. Places like the Aliados Avenue in Porto or Restoration Square in Lisbon had several PCP flags. In the North, the mayor of Gondomar, Marco Martins (PS), was outraged by the PCP flags in one of Gondomar's avenues:

Unqualified, come to destroy what we work to beautify!
Shielded by 'political rights', it cannot be worth everything.
We ask for GOOD SENSE and respect for the public space!
A party that thinks it can do anything, visually pollutes our Avenues.
If it was my party, I would also criticize!
Unfortunately, the legislation protects these behaviors and the City hall can do nothing 🙁
Fortunately, Gondomarians know that Gondomar IS NOT Korea!

In a furious rant on social media, the mayor of Gondomar accused the Communists of "visually polluting" the avenues of Gondomar and highlighted that Gondomar isn't North Korea. Nonetheless, President Marcelo and PM Costa have congratulated the PCP for their 100th anniversary. The media is also focusing on the decline the party is having, the poll above has the PCP-PEV coalition at just 4.5%, and that the party has a huge problem with young voters, women and non-unionized workers, as unionized workers are dropping to record low levels.

In the Lisbon mayoral race, the Liberal Initiative (IL) has refused a coalition with the PSD candidate and presented their own:

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1368193777848946692

IL denies the great coalition of Moedas. Miguel Quintas is the liberal candidate

The PSD candidate for Lisbon mayor, Carlos Moedas, was negotiating with IL to be part of his grand coalition against Medina. But the party was always wary of a coalition due to the uncomfortable relation between them and the PSD, not to mention that the party wanted to pulse their actual strength in Lisbon city. So, the party announced, today, that they would present their own candidate and it will be Miguel Quintas. A complete unknown, Mr Quintas works in the tourism sector. His number 2 on the list, in a woman who was Madonna's lawyer while she was in Portugal. Carlos Moedas already reacted to this announcement by IL saying that for him nothing changed and that he's receiving more and more support each day. On the left, Medina will probably run alone as none of the left parties, BE, CDU and PAN, want to form a coalition.

[Mike88]

CHEGA leadership election: Ventura reelected with 97.3% of the votes.

https://twitter.com/Renascenca/status/1368292953303748614

André Ventura reelected leader of Chega with 97.3% of the votes

Around 25,000 CHEGA members were registered to vote, today, and of those that did cast a ballot, the party didn't release turnout or full tally numbers, Ventura got 97.3%, a result lower than the one he got last year, in September 2020, 99%. Ventura was the sole candidate in the ballot. Ventura, in his victory speech, said his internal opposition doesn't have any strength and that the result was proof of it. He added that he wants to be in government and trashed the PSD for their weak opposition saying Costa is close to a majority. 400 delegates were also elected for the party's convention to be held after the end of the lockdown in a date still to be announced.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

CHEGA leadership election: Ventura reelected with 97.3% of the votes.

https://twitter.com/Renascenca/status/1368292953303748614

André Ventura reelected leader of Chega with 97.3% of the votes

Around 25,000 CHEGA members were registered to vote, today, and of those that did cast a ballot, the party didn't release turnout or full tally numbers, Ventura got 97.3%, a result lower than the one he got last year, in September 2020, 99%. Ventura was the sole candidate in the ballot. Ventura, in his victory speech, said his internal opposition doesn't have any strength and that the result was proof of it. He added that he wants to be in government and trashed the PSD for their weak opposition saying Costa is close to a majority. 400 delegates were also elected for the party's convention to be held after the end of the lockdown in a date still to be announced.

Wow. His re-election is one of the least surprising things ever, but I find it interesting that literally no one else filed a candidacy. When, as I already mentioned in this thread as a term of comparison, Renzi pulled this kind of trick here in 2017, at least he had some fairly serious opposition on the ballot. Just a confirmation if any was needed that CHEGA may as well be called the André Ventura Party, I suppose.

I am also not sure how much I should trust that result when the party did not release the tally in absolute numbers, but that's a separate question.

[Mike88]

Wow. His re-election is one of the least surprising things ever, but I find it interesting that literally no one else filed a candidacy. When, as I already mentioned in this thread as a term of comparison, Renzi pulled this kind of trick here in 2017, at least he had some fairly serious opposition on the ballot. Just a confirmation if any was needed that CHEGA may as well be called the André Ventura Party, I suppose.

I am also not sure how much I should trust that result when the party did not release the tally in absolute numbers, but that's a separate question.

That's a forgone conclusion for a while now. Ventura is CHEGA and CHEGA is Ventura, period. There's no one else other than him and the rest is just a bunch of "kooks", literally. So, he can't have any real opposition as no figure within the party has the strength to challenge him. In an interview to SIC TV, Ventura said his goal is to gain votes in the center ground and remove the PSD as the main party on the right, adding that Rio acts more as Prime Minister than Leader of the Opposition and doesn't propose an alternative to the PS.

About the results, curiously, parties in Portugal have the very annoying habit of not publishing the full results of their leadership elections. The PSD set up a website, in 2020, to follow the live results. The PS also did one site to follow their Prime Ministerial primary results in 2014. But, the rest of the parties publish results in a very vague way, so CHEGA is just following the trend.

In a funny side, CHEGA is also known for their hilarious graphics about polling as their exaggerate the CHEGA columns to ridiculous sizes. An example, using yesterday's Eurosondagem poll:

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

In a funny side, CHEGA is also known for their hilarious graphics about polling as their exaggerate the CHEGA columns to ridiculous sizes. An example, using yesterday's Eurosondagem poll:

I just...

This graphic advertising is so blatantly misleading, not to say fraudulent, that I don't really know how to comment on it otherwise. Par for the course for CHEGA, yes?

[Mike88]

I just...

This graphic advertising is so blatantly misleading, not to say fraudulent, that I don't really know how to comment on it otherwise. Par for the course for CHEGA, yes?

Of course this is something one would expect from CHEGA, and they regularly do this and are fiercely mocked. Curiously, the PS a few weeks ago, also posted, on social media, a "CHEGA style graphic" to show Portugal's vaccination performance and to respond to the PSD, but that went horribly wrong and the party was forced to delete the post and graphic.

In a side note, the latest polling hasn't been that good for CHEGA. The party in two other polls fell considerably, it seems at the cost of the Liberal Initiative. Eurosondagem shows CHEGA basically stagnated, while PSD gains from the IL fall, but Eurosondagem has normally a tendency of overestimating the 2 major parties. Plus, the media is hyping a lot "the Moedas effect", but it's unclear if it will benefit the PSD in national polls.

[Mike88]

President Marcelo sworn in for his 2nd term:

https://twitter.com/TSFRadio/status/1369243963635294209

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took an oath on the Constitution.

Today, March 9th, is the swearing in day of the President of the Republic in Parliament. President Marcelo, after winning the January elections with 60.7% of the votes, was sworn in for his 2nd term as President. In his speech, Marcelo said the only reason for his solemn compromise he did by taking the oath is just Portugal and the Portuguese. He recalled the deep division the country was in when he became President in 2016 and the he helped in healing the divisions, but said that the last year was a crushing one for us all and said that those affected may be outraged, but it's "partially unfair" to criticize those who didn't anticipate the events. He added that mistakes were made but that, sometimes, better and more was not possible. He defended a democracy within republican ethics and that democracy cannot exclude people that could be sacrificed because of the myth of the "Pure Portuguese" (a clear jab towards CHEGA). President Marcelo also pressed for more actions to fight poverty and said he will be the same as he was in his 1st term. He ended his speech by hoping that the next five years will be years of reason and hope and recited a poem of one Portugal's renown poetess, Sophia de Mello Breyner. President Marcelo then went to Jerónimos Monastery to place wreaths of flowers in the Tombs of Vasco da Gama and Luís de Camões.

In reaction to President Marcelo's speech, PM Costa said he will continue the "solidarity and cooperation" with the President, while the PS said they agree with the President's speech that democracy and the cohesion of the country should be strengthened. The PSD highlithed the "social dimension" of the President's speech and said they are building an "unique alternative" led by Rui Rio. BE liked the speech as it pointed to more investment in social programs, while CDU said they don't want "stability just for the sake of stability" and demand strong policies. CDS applauded the speech and want a more "central" President. PAN said that the President talked little of climate change and was vague on corruption and youth problems. CHEGA accused Marcelo of attacking them on his speech, calling the President's speech "empty". IL said that it was a good and correct speech, but have doubts that Marcelo will be more tough on PM Costa is this second term.

Full ceremony:

[Mike88]

2021 local elections: IL candidate for Lisbon mayor, Miguel Quintas, involved in a controversy as it was revealed he defended the nationalization of TAP airlines, a idea completely rejected/hated by the party.

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1368358359234142219

IL candidate to Lisbon admitted that nationalization of TAP could be an "excellent option".

After the Liberal Initiative announced their candidate for the Lisbon mayoral race, Miguel Quintas, an opinion piece, in April 2020, he wrote in a Tourism related magazine surfaced, but it was deleted. However, using recovery tools on the internet, the media was able to recover the full opinion text. In his opinion piece, Mr Quintas said that "nationalizing TAP would not be unreasonable" and "everything indicates that it may be an excellent option for the national purpose that the company has". This goes against everything the party defends, as IL is totally against the nationalization or State support for TAP airlines. But, a few months later, Mr Quintas was caught flip-flopping in this issue. In a debate on SIC-Notícias, Mr Quintas criticized the State support for TAP saying that the company only represents 2% of GDP and that the rest 98% are being left out with few support. The video was posted by IL in their social media pages with the title "Miguel Quintas exposes the socialist TAPalhadas".

Mr Quintas responded to the controversy by saying the title of his article didn't expressed his full beliefs, and that the current situation is different from when he wrote the opinion piece. IL is also being accused by some in the PSD of playing the PS game by not supporting the PSD candidate, Carlos Moedas. However, some newspapers say that only Moedas asked IL to join his campaign and that the IL leader was waiting for a call from Rui Rio that never arrived.

[Mike88]

2021 local elections: IL candidate for Lisbon mayor, Miguel Quintas, involved in a controversy as it was revealed he defended the nationalization of TAP airlines, a idea completely rejected/hated by the party.

The IL candidate has just dropped out from the race, after just 3 days in it:
https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1369424930501238789

Local elections: Miguel Quintas, of the Liberal Initiative, gives up his candidacy to Lisbon

It seems he dropped out because of "personal reasons". The party is now debating who will head the list for Lisbon as they wish to present their own candidacy for the capital.

[Mike88]

Wow. His re-election is one of the least surprising things ever, but I find it interesting that literally no one else filed a candidacy. When, as I already mentioned in this thread as a term of comparison, Renzi pulled this kind of trick here in 2017, at least he had some fairly serious opposition on the ballot. Just a confirmation if any was needed that CHEGA may as well be called the André Ventura Party, I suppose.

I am also not sure how much I should trust that result when the party did not release the tally in absolute numbers, but that's a separate question.

After some media outlets investigated that the results were managed by a mystery private company and that even the party didn't knew the detail tally of results, the party released, today, the official tally of results:
https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1369712350165688328

Ventura was re-elected leader of Chega with the vote of only 11.5% of members

The official tally: (only 14,979 of the 27,926 party members were in conditions to vote)

3,226 Ventura (97.3%)
     73 Blank ballots (2.2%)
     18 Invalid ballots (0.5%)

3,317 Turnout (22.1%)

[Mike88]

Independent MP Joacine Katar Moreira creates controversy after posting, on social media, a picture of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos being launch to space:

The controversial post:
https://twitter.com/KatarMoreira/status/1369582410468384768

Good Morning

Independent MP Joacine Katar Moreira (JKM) is back in the news. After in the last few weeks, some MPs and others people discussed the possibility that many monuments in Portugal, that remind Portugal's Imperial, should be removed or destroyed, Ms Joacine posted on social media, a picture of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos being launch to space. However, the majority of the comments in her post was very critical towards her, with many accusing her of disrespecting Portugal's past. Other also mocked her post by saying that if Portugal conquers Space as it did in the discovery era, Portugal will have a very strong future.

[Mike88]

Update on the 2021 local elections:

- In Braga, there's tensions between the national PS and the local PS on the candidate to face incumbent PSD mayor, Ricardo Rio. The PS national leadership chose Hugo Pires as candidate, but the local party says the process isn't over yet, as there is a personal feud between Mr Pires and the PS local leader, Artur Feio. A PS internal poll, shows the party losing to the PSD by a wide margin.

- PSD leader Rui Rio will make a press conference tomorrow in Coimbra city to announce local candidates in that district. It's expected that he will announce José Manuel Silva as the candidate for the party in Coimbra. The PSD was negotiating a deal with the Independents to defeat incumbent PS mayor, Manuel Machado.

- In Albufeira, Algarve, there will be a split in the PSD. The incumbent PSD mayor, José Carlos Rolo, will face the PS candidate and the former PSD mayor of Albufeira, between 2001 and 2012, Desidério Silva. Mr Desidério Silva will run as an Independent. This run splits the PSD vote and could make Albufeira a PS pick up.

- Just next door, in Lagoa city, there's also a split but here in the PS. The incumbent PS mayor, Luís Encarnação, will face the PSD candidate and his predecessor in the office, Francisco Martins. Mr Martins, elected in 2013 in the PS lists, resigned due to health issues in 2019, but will now run as an Independent thus splitting the PS vote.

- In São João da Madeira, CDS will probably lead the coalition with the PSD. The candidate proposed is João Almeida, former CDS MP and defeated leadership candidate in 2020. The PSD has still to approve this candidacy and proposed coalition led by CDS. The current PS mayor will probably run for a 2nd term.

- The PSD is having difficulty in finding women candidates to lead their lists in many cities. Rui Rio said this is a PSD women forum and this created some discomfort in the party's women base. This issue arose a few weeks ago when the party only had 3 women candidates in more than 100 candidates announced.

More updates when available.

[Mike88]

Media reports tensions between President Marcelo and PM Costa regarding the lockdown end plan:

https://twitter.com/Visao_pt/status/1370126716631400448

Marcelo leaves Costa to talk to alone about lockdown end

The President and the Prime Minister seem to be in collision course regarding the lockdown and the ease of restrictions. President Marcelo doesn't want the lift of restriction before Easter and, in his 2nd term speech, Marcelo asked for "a wise plan". But, the President isn't giving any cover to the PM on the plan presented last night. The media even reports that Marcelo had a dinner with Costa, last Wednesday, to convince him to not open the country until April. But, Marcelo failed to convince Costa and the plan presented by the PM, starts reopening the country by next week. The mood between both is tense at the point that the President didn't knew even, as of yesterday afternoon, the details of the plan. President Marcelo left yesterday to the Vatican, to have a meeting with the Pope, another sign, pointed by the media, that Marcelo doesn't want any relation with the plan presented by Costa.

[Mike88]

More CHEGA infighting in the Azores: Ventura threatens to remove his confidence in one of its regional MPs, but the PSD led government isn't in danger as PAN is willing to support it.

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1370394405832691717

If CHEGA makes the Azores government tremble, PAN will secure it.

Earlier this week, a report surfaced that Ventura was going again to the Azores, the second time in almost a month, to confront his regional MPs about internal disagreements surrounding the social support income (RSI). CHEGA wants to reduce the number of beneficiaries and one of their MPs posted on social media that the party was against the rise in beneficiaries, adding that just this year alone, more 200 were enrolled. The leader of CHEGA Azores, Carlos Furtado, criticized the post saying "criticizing doesn't solve the problem" and demanded that the post should be deleted, as it was. But Ventura seems to be furious at Mr Furtado and, according to Expresso and Observador newspapers, he's considering removing his confidence in Mr Furtado. However, both regional MPs received the report with surprise and say it's total nonsense.

But, if indeed Mr Furtado becomes an Independent MP, PAN has already said they are willing to support the PSD led coalition, adding that the current government has all the conditions to continue in office. All of this happens as the PSD led coalition presented their first budget that focuses on tax and tariff cuts.

[Mike88]

André Silva, PAN leader, announces he will leave the leadership and his seat in Parliament by June:

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1371155713851072512

Political parties: André Silva leaves leadership of PAN and Parliament in June: “People should not be immortalized in their positions”

André Silva, PAN leader/spokesperson, has announced he will not run again for the party's top job and will also resign from his seat in Parliament by June this year. In an email sent to party members, and leaked by Público newspaper, says he leaves the leadership and his seat in order to "catch the train of fatherhood" and to balance his family and work life. He also adds that "people should not be immortalized in office." After Público published the email, André Silva posted on social media the online letter he sent to PAN members. André Silva is leader of the party since 2014 and was able to make the party win seats in Parliament in the 2015 and 2019 general elections. A party congress on 5 and 6 June 2021 will elect his successor.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I am not surprised that the CHEGA Azores drama is still ongoing (nor that CHEGA wants to cut access social support benefits - very "populist" indeed), but why would PAN offer its support to the PSD government? I thought it was considered a left-leaning party?

Speaking of PAN, I have a little hunch that André Silva's announcement is not entirely a coincidence, but maybe I am overthinking this.

[Mike88]

I am not surprised that the CHEGA Azores drama is still ongoing (nor that CHEGA wants to cut access social support benefits - very "populist" indeed), but why would PAN offer its support to the PSD government? I thought it was considered a left-leaning party?

Speaking of PAN, I have a little hunch that André Silva's announcement is not entirely a coincidence, but maybe I am overthinking this.

PAN is indeed a center-left party, but they have always said that there are willing to support either PS or PSD governments if their policies are integrated in the government's agenda. In the Azores that's exactly what happened. After last year regional elections, the PSD has been "seducing" PAN (as the PSD doesn't trust CHEGA and wants some kind of "safety card" if CHEGA goes crazy) and during the 2021 budget negotiations, PAN and PSD had meetings to negotiate budget policies, environmental ones I believe.

About André Silva's decision, well, the party has a lot of internal infighting and last year, they even lost their MEP because of tensions between the MEP and André Silva. During that time, PAN also lost one MP that became an Independent. They accuse Silva of being controlling and dictatorial in leading the party and this has always, more often than not, created very public clashes within the party. So, André Silva's departure from the leadership is both a surprise but also a bit expected. About who would be the next leader, my hunch is that it will be Inês Sousa Real, currently the party's caucus leader.

[Mike88]

Crisis in CHEGA-Azores: Regional leader resigns and will face his regional MP colleague in a snap leadership election.

https://twitter.com/dntwit/status/1371228531015831553

Chega / Açores leader resigns after split in regional structure.

The ongoing crisis in the CHEGA-Azores party reached a climax this Sunday. The current feud between the regional leader and regional MP and his MP colleague about the social income support (RSI) wasn't resolved, even with Ventura in the Azores. The two will now face each other in a snap leadership election. It's clear that Carlos Furtado, the current leader, is a more moderate member while his party colleague, José Pacheco, is more radical and far-right. Party insiders say that both men present different projects within the party and that if Mr Pacheco loses, the party's support for the PSD led coalition "won't be so incisive". A date for the election is yet to be announced.

[Mike88]

Political update:

More updates for the 2021 local elections:

- CHEGA has announced their candidate for Lisbon mayor, and it's a surprise candidate. The party chose former TV host Nuno Graciano as candidate. Mr Graciano hosted a lot of morning/talk shows on SIC, TVI and more recently on CMTV. He's been out of TV for a while, but a few years ago, made headlines for a podcast interview where he said that parents who beat up their children should get life in prison and those "who sodomize their children" should get, at minimum, death sentence;

- The PS is starting to announce more and more candidates. The Socialists are the party most affected by term limits in this election, but, so far they have announced the reelection campaigns of many of their current mayors, like in Loulé, Lisbon, Coimbra. The most controversial nomination so far is the approval of the reelection campaign of Pedrogão Grande mayor, Valdemar Alves. Mr Alves is accused of corruption in the management of the reconstruction funds after the deadly 2017 wildfires;

- In Barcelos city, there's tension in both PSD and PS, but more in the PSD. The current PS mayor, Miguel Costa Gomes, is accused of corruption and is also term limited, so the party has to present a new candidate but there is tensions on who should they present. But in the PSD, things aren't better. The party is finding it hard to present a candidate and the current local leader resigned after his name was rejected;

- Also in the PSD, the name of Santana Lopes continues to pop up regarding possible cities for him to run. First it was Lisbon, then Sintra, then Coimbra and the Figueira da Foz, all rejected by local and national party structures. But, today, DN newspaper says that Santana also rejected a proposal to be the PSD candidate in Torres Vedras, a PS bastion since 1976;

In the national scene, a poll by Intercampus released today, in CM newspaper and CMTV, shows that 56% of the electorate want Costa to reshuffle his cabinet. The Interior minister and Justice minister are the most unpopular in the eyes of the electorate and should be ousted according to the poll. The Health minister, Marta Temido, also has 20% of the electorate that want her out:

Intercampus poll for CM newspaper/CMTV:

Q1: Do you think António Costa should reshuffle his cabinet?

56.4% Yes
30.7% No
12.8% Undecided

Q2: When do you think he should do that?

42.4% Before the summer
38.0% After the local elections
15.0% Now
  4.6% Undecided

Q3: Which ministers should be ousted? (multiple choice and top 6)

35.2% Eduardo Cabrita (Interior)
28.8% Francisca Van Dunem (Justice)
24.8% Tiago Brandão Rodrigues (Education)
21.9% Graça Fonseca (Culture)
20.2% Marta Temido (Health)
13.5% Pedro Nuno Santos (Infrastructure)

Poll conducted between 4 and 10 March 2021. Polled 615 voters. MoE of 4.00%.

[Mike88]

Constitutional Court rules the euthanasia bill as unconstitutional. The bill now goes back to Parliament.

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1371526830629470209

Constitutional Court rejects medically assisted death law  

The Constitutional Court has declared that the Euthanasia legalization bill is unconstitutional as it violates the "inviolability of human life" inscribed in the Constitution. The bill was sent to the Court by President Marcelo as he had doubts about the constitutionality of the law. Of the 12 judges out of 13, one seat is vacant, 7 judges voted against the bill and 5 in favour. Of the 7 judges that voted against the bill, 3 were nominated by the PSD, 3 by the PS and one by CDS. The 5 judges that voted in favour were all from the PS bar one, from the PSD. The bill will now return to Parliament to be redrawn.

[Farmlands]

Well, that's a pretty clear statement... Not really what I hoped for though. Doesn't seem like it will ever be able to go past Marcelo, no matter what the parliament does, right? Maybe the national referendum on euthanasia really is the only way forward.

[Mike88]

Well, that's a pretty clear statement... Not really what I hoped for though. Doesn't seem like it will ever be able to go past Marcelo, no matter what the parliament does, right? Maybe the national referendum on euthanasia really is the only way forward.

Even though the Court ruled the proposed bill as unconstitutional, they opened the door to a future approval. The current bill in fact violates the "inviolability of human life" in the Constitution, however, the Judge President João Caupers, who voted against the bill, also wrote in the ruling: "The right to life cannot be transformed into a duty to live under any circumstances." Meaning that the Court says that Parliament can make a bill that corrects the issues raised by the Court. Now, if Parliament can make that kind of bill is a whole other question.

[MaxQue]

Well, that's a pretty clear statement... Not really what I hoped for though. Doesn't seem like it will ever be able to go past Marcelo, no matter what the parliament does, right? Maybe the national referendum on euthanasia really is the only way forward.

Even though the Court ruled the proposed bill as unconstitutional, they opened the door to a future approval. The current bill in fact violates the "inviolability of human life" in the Constitution, however, the Judge President João Caupers, who voted against the bill, also wrote in the ruling: "The right to life cannot be transformed into a duty to live under any circumstances." Meaning that the Court says that Parliament can make a bill that corrects the issues raised by the Court. Now, if Parliament can make that kind of bill is a whole other question.

Any way for the government to add more judges/fire the ones who care more than their Catholic faith than doing their jobs?

[Mike88]

Well, that's a pretty clear statement... Not really what I hoped for though. Doesn't seem like it will ever be able to go past Marcelo, no matter what the parliament does, right? Maybe the national referendum on euthanasia really is the only way forward.

Even though the Court ruled the proposed bill as unconstitutional, they opened the door to a future approval. The current bill in fact violates the "inviolability of human life" in the Constitution, however, the Judge President João Caupers, who voted against the bill, also wrote in the ruling: "The right to life cannot be transformed into a duty to live under any circumstances." Meaning that the Court says that Parliament can make a bill that corrects the issues raised by the Court. Now, if Parliament can make that kind of bill is a whole other question.

Any way for the government to add more judges/fire the ones who care more than their Catholic faith than doing their jobs?

Nope. The government cannot fire judges, because of the separation of powers, nor can they pick specific judges to advance any kind of agenda as every judge needs a 2/3 majority to be elected in Parliament. Plus, there's a "gentleman's agreement" between PS and PSD, in which judges picks alternate between the parties, as in the PS chooses one, so the next one will be a PSD pick, and so on. But, sometimes the "agreement" fails, as it did this week when the PSD pick to fill the vacant Court seat failed to reach the 2/3 majority.