Portuguese parliament rejects loss of nationality penalty as PSD and Chega fail to agree
All three attempts to make loss of Portuguese nationality a possible punishment for serious crimes were voted down in parliament on 3 July 2026, after the two main right-wing parties failed to bridge their differences over the unconstitutional decree.
Parliament rejected both the original decree on loss of nationality and a softened version proposed by the PSD and CDS, leaving the government's plan to introduce an accessory penalty dead. The votes ended months of legislative back-and-forth that included two unanimous rulings of unconstitutionality from the Constitutional Court and a veto by former president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
What was voted on
Chega, led by André Ventura, forced a confirmation vote on the original decree, hoping to override the Constitutional Court with a two-thirds majority. Only 56 deputies from Chega and CDS supported it, while 152 from PSD, PS, Iniciativa Liberal, Livre, PCP, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN and JPP voted against. PSD then put forward amendments with CDS that narrowed the scope of crimes to terrorism, attacks against the state, qualified homicide, rape and criminal association, but those changes were also defeated: PSD and CDS backed them, Iniciativa Liberal abstained, and all other parties, including Chega, voted no.
The rift on the right
PSD vice-president Alexandre Poço accused Chega of causing the failure.
He quoted Ventura's own words, "whoever tries to please the left ends up with the left," and noted that the Chega leader had voted alongside the left.Today, the whole country will know that whoever acquires nationality and later commits a terrorism crime cannot lose their nationality. And whose responsibility? Chega's, a party that seeks to benefit from chaos.
Chega deputy Vanessa Barata shot back that PSD had gone back on their earlier deal.
She warned that Chega would not join "cuddly laws" and that voters would remember the betrayal.The Portuguese deserve to know the truth. And the truth is that today the PSD wanted to change the decree, make it softer, flimsier, cuddlier and more to the liking of the left. You lacked courage.
The government's defence
Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro argued that committing extremely serious crimes that break civic bonds must carry the possibility of losing nationality. He called the penalty "reasonable, necessary" and stressed that it was of "rare application" and met the Constitutional Court's concerns.
We cannot have the State with hands tied in limit situations.
Left-wing criticism
Left-wing deputies used the debate to accuse PSD and CDS of pandering to Chega's far-right narrative. PS deputy and constitutionalist Isabel Moreira called the decree "a gigantic concession to the far-right" that created first- and second-class nationals.
She said the right had failed a test of respect for the rule of law. Bloco de Esquerda's Fabian Figueiredo noted the proposed measure would not apply to any crime that had ever occurred in Portugal, calling the exercise a propaganda operation.The right's objective was never to legislate well, it was to produce a newspaper headline. When you legislate for headlines, you end up legislating against the Constitution.
PS deputy Luís Testa asked PSD what partners it would now choose for constitutional revision, while Iniciativa Liberal, which had abstained on the PSD/CDS proposal, saw its former president Rui Rocha vote in favour.
