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The referendum proposal to decriminalize euthanasia was unsuccessful with votes against PS, BE, PCP, PEV and PAN, nine PSD deputies and two non-registered deputies (Cristina Rodrigues and Joacine Katar Moreira). In the Social Democratic bench, the remaining deputies voted in favor together with the CDS and the sole deputy of the Liberal Initiative. André Ventura, from Chega, did not vote because he was on an electoral campaign in the Azores. There were no abstentions.
On the PSD bench, deputies Rui Rio (PSD leader), André Coelho Lima, António Lima Costa, Mónica Quintela, Catarina Rocha Ferreira, Isabel Meireles, Márcia Passos, António Maló de Abreu and Sofia Matos voted against the proposal , which represents a minority of 79 elected MPs.
The president of the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, asked the deputies not to announce explanations of vote due to the long parliamentary agenda this morning. Only the PS deputy Pedro Cegonho ended up doing it, which upset the president.
The proposal was born from a popular referendum initiative, promoted by the Federation for Life, which collected more than 95 thousand signatures. In Thursday’s debate, deputies who oppose the popular consultation argued that the Assembly of the Republic is sovereign to legislate on the issue. On the contrary, the parties in favor of the referendum argued that Parliament must allow the Portuguese to express themselves and that this option does not compromise representative democracy.
The PSD group was the most divided: a majority defends the referendum but the party leader voted against and is in favor of decriminalizing euthanasia. The decision of the PSD leadership to grant freedom to vote was controversial, as was seen at the board meeting. – taking into account that the February congress approved a motion proposing a referendum on the legalization of euthanasia.
One of the most critical is the deputy Pedro Rodrigues, who accuses the leadership of Rui Rio of choosing to “vote alongside the PS, showing ceremony in the demarcation” of the Socialists. “Between the PS and the electorate and activists of the PSD, the political leadership of my party again chose to be on the side of the PS. This is not the position of the majority of the militants, nor of the PSD electorate, ”the former JSD leader declared.
Pedro Rodrigues considers that the PSD “lost another opportunity to lead a sensitive issue for its electorate” by rejecting the discussion in the parliamentary group of the party presenting a referendum initiative.
In the proposal that is debated in plenary, if approved, the question that would be submitted to a referendum – “Do you agree that killing another person at your request or assisting him to commit suicide should continue to be punishable by criminal law in all circumstances? ” – it was also heavily criticized in the parliamentary debate on Thursday. Deputies of several seats considered that the subject contained “a moral judgment” and even political.
After the failed referendum proposal, work continues to reach a common text on the decriminalization of euthanasia, taking into account the bills that were generally approved in February.
