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It takes three to declare a state of emergency and two have already done their part. The President of the Republic presented the terms of the decree on Thursday, the Government was heard and agreed, and this Friday afternoon the Assembly of the Republic meets in plenary session to give its authorization. This is what the Constitution determines, because the restriction of rights, freedoms and guarantees is not taken lightly. The fourth state of emergency of the covid era will enter into force on Monday 9 and will continue for the maximum period scheduled: 15 days. But it can be renewed until spring, as the Prime Minister has already warned.
This time, the state of emergency will have a more limited scope to achieve “mostly preventive effects,” as the Prime Minister requested this Monday from the President of the Republic. In the proposal sent to Parliament, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa writes that “the evolution of the pandemic [de] covid-19, as well as the lessons learned, justify the greater guarantees of legal certainty of the measures adopted or to be adopted by the competent authorities for the corresponding prevention and response ”.
There are four areas of rights conditioned or restricted by this presidential proposal and they only concern “areas such as the call for human resources for screening, the control of people’s health, freedom of movement and the use of resources from the private sectors and social or cooperative ”.
The presidential decree is just a legal “hat” under which the Government will have after determining concrete measures that cannot exceed the limits established there – and an extraordinary Council of Ministers is already established to define what may (and may not) be will do in the next 15 days. Even so, the scope of what can be decided is wide. But, as the Prime Minister has already said, the measures will be adapted to each moment of the pandemic, and may be extended or restricted every 15 days, depending on the specific situation.
On the website of the Presidency, the Head of State summarizes the objectives: “The possibility of the Government imposing restrictions on movement in certain places at certain times, particularly in the municipalities with the highest risk; the use, if necessary and preferably by agreement, of health establishments in the private, social and cooperative sector, with due compensation; the mobilization of workers, as well as of the Armed and Security Forces, to strengthen health authorities in epidemiological and detection surveys; and the possibility of measuring body temperature by non-invasive means and imposing tests on access to certain services and equipment ”.
In the previous states of emergency, which were in force between March 18 and May 1, not all authorizations were used, such as the requisition of private goods or services in the health sector. This time, the presidential decree is more cautious and establishes that this recourse must occur “preferably by agreement” and “with fair compensation, depending on what is necessary to ensure the treatment of patients with covid-19 or the maintenance of the healthcare activity in relation to other pathologies ”. Which anticipates that, this time, the private and social sector will mobilize, but in a way closer to contractualization. This was one of the concerns expressed by health officials that Marcelo heard in the last 15 days.
Unlike the first phase, there is now no duty to stay at home, the so-called general confinement. It is only foreseen the prohibition of circulating on public roads during certain periods of the day or certain days of the week ”, that is to say, the door is open to the curfew and also to the regional or local feedlots. And there are many justified travel possibilities: work, get medical care, help others, study, go shopping. “Other compelling reasons” are also envisaged, and the Government “specifies the situations and purposes in which individual freedom of movement is maintained, preferably without accompaniment.”
More than two-thirds in Parliament
Far from the unanimity of the first, this fourth decree should be approved by more than two thirds of Parliament, since on Monday, even before the terms of the declaration were known, PS, PSD, CDS and PAN advanced. that would support the presidential decree. Rui Rio, leader of the Social Democrats, justified that it was “more a matter of law than of politics”, since it is about “giving the Government the legal and constitutional framework necessary to take the measures that may be imposed on it.” ”.
Likewise, the PAN coincided with the model presented by the President of the Republic, since, in the words of the leader André Silva, it guaranteed “the necessary measures to face this period,” without imposing greater restrictions on the rights of the people.
BE, for its part, maintains reservations, in particular on how to use health services in the social and private sectors. Catarina Martins defended the civil requisition, that is, by unilateral decision of the State and at the price set by it. In addition, the blockade leader believes that there are legal instruments that allowed all measures to be taken without resorting to the state of emergency.
This is also the position of the PCP and the PEV, who announced the vote against earlier in the week. The communist parliamentary leader reinforced this Thursday the idea: “What the country needs are measures that promote individual protection, promote the pedagogy of protection and ensure the necessary sanitary conditions for the continuity of national life in its various dimensions.” declared João Oliveira.
The Liberal Initiative also votes against, considering the measures “excessive and unjustified, in terms of their effectiveness.” “We reject a decree that repeatedly uses expressions such as ‘preferentially’ or ‘in particular’. As we reject this levity and appreciate freedom, we will vote against it,” he says.
Chega only said that he would be against the total closure, but did not reveal the meaning of the vote, as did the unregistered deputies Joacine Katar Moreira and Cristina Rodrigues.
