Delegations from Chega, Livre, IL, and PCP were received yesterday by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa—with the foreigners' law on the table. While André Ventura stated that he was "99.9% certain that the President of the Republic will send the new law to the Constitutional Court," Rui Tavares declined to anticipate the decision. Mariana Leitão expressed "support" for the possible oversight, and finally, Paulo Raimundo spoke of a law "drafted in haste" and "with formal oversights."
The President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa received delegations from the Chega, Livre, and PCP parties this Tuesday afternoon, in meetings where the legal framework for the entry and residence of foreigners was a key item on the agenda. The head of state also met with Mariana Leitão, the newly elected president of the IL, in a meeting to exchange greetings, but where the topic of the new foreigners' law was also discussed.
The first party to be received was Chega , at 5 pm, and, upon leaving the hearing, leader André Ventura stated that it is "almost certain" that the President of the Republic will send " the new law on foreigners to the Constitutional Court (TC), as he understands that "there are issues of legal certainty that need to be safeguarded" - namely for its practical application in the courts and to resolve issues that are being raised by various members of civil society, by "experts and non-experts and by various entities".
"I am 99.9% certain that the President of the Republic will send the new law on foreigners, approved by the Assembly of the Republic, to the Constitutional Court ," he said.
André Ventura, president of Chega, stated that it is "almost certain" that the President of the Republic will send "the new law on foreigners to the Constitutional Court", as he understands that "there are issues of legal certainty that need to be safeguarded".
Next, it was Livre 's turn to be welcomed. Unlike André Ventura, Livre spokesperson Rui Tavares refused to anticipate the President's decision regarding the legal framework for the entry and residence of foreigners, advocating for the decree to be submitted for preventive review by the Constitutional Court .
"We cannot anticipate what the President of the Republic will do, and we certainly will not. From Livre's point of view, there are more than enough reasons to send the bill to the Constitutional Court ," said Rui Tavares, speaking to journalists after the meeting with the head of state at Belém Palace.
In the view of the deputy, who was accompanied by a delegation that included the party's spokesperson and parliamentary leader, Isabel Mendes Lopes, the issues at stake are "issues of inequality before the law" , between Portuguese people and immigrants and between immigrants themselves.
Livre spokesperson Rui Tavares today rejected anticipating the President of the Republic's decision regarding the legal regime for the entry and stay of foreigners and defended sending the decree for preventive review by the Constitutional Court.
After the hearing with Marcelo (the third of the day for the President), the leader of IL , Mariana Leitão, said that she is in solidarity with the possible sending of the law on foreigners to the Constitutional Court, considering that the process was "very poorly conducted" by the Government .
"We, given the process, the way it took place in the Assembly of the Republic, ended up being in solidarity [with this request] because this process was very poorly conducted by the Government, there were numerous setbacks, there were several entities that are required by law to be heard and that were not" , he stated.
Mariana Leitão stated that this law "directly affects people's lives, their rights, freedoms and guarantees" and, therefore, must have "a process that complies with all the necessary steps to ensure that the law is as balanced as possible."
IL President Mariana Leitão said today that she is in solidarity with the possible referral of the law on foreigners to the Constitutional Court, considering that the process was "very poorly handled" by the Government.
Finally, after the meeting with the President of the Republic, the PCP 's general secretary argued that the law on foreigners is unnecessary and unconstitutional, and stated that he was not "turning his back" on Marcelo regarding the constitutionality of the decree.
Speaking to journalists, Paulo Raimundo said that the law that changes the legal regime for the entry and stay of foreigners was made "in a hurry" and with "formal mishaps" .
"There are contents that we consider can and certainly will be unconstitutional and this is an aspect that [the President of the Republic] cannot fail to take into account in the assessment" he makes, stated Paulo Raimundo.
The PCP's general secretary today considered the foreigners' law unnecessary and unconstitutional and stated that he was not "turning his back" on the President of the Republic regarding the constitutionality of the decree.
A hearing is also scheduled for Thursday with the Left Bloc , which was the first party to announce a request to be received by the head of state regarding changes to the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and removal of foreigners from the national territory.
It should be remembered that BE, Livre and PCP oppose the changes that were approved in plenary session on Wednesday last week , while Chega would like the President of the Republic to urgently promulgate the Parliament's decree .
The new regime limits work-seeking visas to "skilled work" - for people with "specialized technical skills," to be defined later by decree - and restricts family reunification for immigrants , granting more rights in this regard to those with certain types of residence permits, such as so-called 'golden visas'.
Under the Constitution, the President of the Republic has twenty days to promulgate or exercise the right of veto in relation to any decree of the Assembly of the Republic and may request the Constitutional Court to carry out a preventive assessment of its constitutionality within eight days from the date of receipt of the diploma .
According to the website of the Assembly of the Republic, the decree was sent to the Belém Palace last Thursday .