In the position sent to Lusa, Pedro Rodrigues, who will vote against the projects under debate in the Assembly of the Republic on Thursday, points out three reasons for moving forward with the draft referendum resolution, which will be implemented in the coming days.
“I associate myself with the history of the PPD / PSD, its humanist and personalist vocation, to consider that we cannot assume any position other than the defense of the referendum on euthanasia. In line with our historical tradition, we cannot fail to consider that what is at stake is not just a matter of conscience of the deputy, but of the citizen, ”he says.
Second, the deputy – who coordinates the PSD’s political and electoral reform committee – considers that Thursday’s vote on decriminalizing euthanasia “is a decision that affects the essential core of representative democracy”.
“It is up to the deputies in the exercise and development of their mandate to express the sentiment of the citizens expressed in the suffrage electoral program. The quality of democracy requires the full execution of the parliamentary mandate ”, he says, arguing that, as the PSD program did not address this matter, the parliamentarians in this group cannot take a decision that they did not put to the voters.
Finally, Pedro Rodrigues considers that “euthanasia is a civilizational issue that divides Portuguese society that should not be decided by a conjunctural majority”.
“It must be decided by the majority of the Portuguese people. It is not a conjunctural majority that must make a decisive decision in Portuguese society ”, he adds.
Last week, the president and parliamentary leader of the PSD, Rui Rio, had defended that “the referendum is not on the table” at this moment and only at the end of the parliamentary process will it be seen “if society wants it”, after having been questioned at the bench meeting by some deputies on the matter.
“Now we have a vote on the 20th, then the specialty and the final global vote. After all this happens, you will soon see who wins and what society wants, ”he said then, anticipating that if he wins‘ no ’, defenders of‘ yes ’will not ask for a referendum.
The Assembly of the Republic debates and votes on Thursday the five bills to decriminalize assisted death – BE, PS, PAN, ENP and Liberal Initiative – which provide for this possibility, but under different conditions.
All diplomas provide that persons over the age of 18, without mental problems or illnesses, in a situation of suffering and with an incurable disease, can only request medically assisted death, through a doctor.
They also propose the decriminalization of those who practice assisted death, under the conditions defined by law, guaranteeing conscientious objection for doctors and nurses.
A group of citizens was already collecting signatures for a referendum on the matter, which has the support of the Catholic Church. Of the parties with parliamentary representation, only the CDS-PP and Chega support the idea, as well as several PSD figures, including former leaders such as Cavaco Silva, Manuela Ferreira Leite or Pedro Passos Coelho.
When the result of a popular initiative, the referendum proposal must be signed by a minimum of 60,000 Portuguese voters, regularly registered in the national territory.
(News updated at 11:15 pm)
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