I figure time has run out.
I wrote to the President yesterday (contact form here) because:
- This thing is being steamrolled in by the Government, with Chega helping to push, and AIMA publishing supporting ‘The foreigners are quadrupling’ headlines for air cover
- Sr. Presidente is a busy guy! So let’s get into his headspace before the bill comes to him and the pressure gauge ‘goes to 11’ on this
- Sr. Presidente probably knows o «pai da Constituição» Jorge Miranda personally [1], and hopefully respects his opinion (unlike the Government, or the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees). I quoted Sr. Miranda’s thoughts on arbitrary nationality start dates, etc.
- Sr. Presidente will no doubt punt the Nationality Law changes to o Tribunal Constitucional, and his instructions/concerns to the Court carry far more weight than any letters or petitions we can muster now
[1]
ChatGPT suggests Marcelo and Miranda know/like each other. I haven't had time to double-check these:
- The Presidency publicly announced that Marcelo selected Jorge Miranda to preside over the official Dia de Portugal (10 June) commemorations in 2022, noting Miranda as “one of the fathers of the Constitution.”
- University/academic outlets report that Marcelo awarded Jorge Miranda the Grand Cross of the Order of Camões at a ceremony in Belém Palace.
- Scholarly/proceedings material shows Marcelo’s involvement in volumes of “Estudos de Homenagem” honoring Prof. Jorge Miranda (Marcelo appears as one of the organizers/editors/contributors in the homage volumes), documenting academic collaboration.