President Seguro vetoes ban on 'ideological' flags in public buildings, returning bill to parliament

The veto

President António José Seguro returned the decree to the Assembly of the Republic without promulgation on the evening of 10 June, according to a brief statement on the presidency's website. The statement confirmed the return was accompanied by a reasoned message, but that message will only be made public after it is read in parliament. This marks Seguro's first political veto of a parliamentary bill; he had previously vetoed a law on the accessory penalty of loss of nationality, but on grounds of unconstitutionality.

What the bill proposed

The bill, approved by parliament on 17 April with votes from the PSD, Chega, and CDS-PP, sought to ban the "display, placement or hoisting" on public buildings of flags "of an ideological, partisan or associative nature, regardless of their legal nature," as well as insignia of "foreign origin, except in the context of official diplomatic or protocol acts." Under the proposed rules, only the national flag, the European Union flag, and "institutional and heraldic flags" of state entities, autonomous regions, local authorities, the armed forces, and security forces would be permitted. Historical predecessor flags and flags tied to official institutional, educational, or recognition programmes would be exempted. The law would have applied to all buildings, monuments, installations, masts, facades, and interiors of official use belonging to or assigned to sovereign bodies, direct and indirect state administration, autonomous regions, local authorities, and other public entities.

Parliamentary path

About a month before the April vote, parliament debated separate bills from Chega and CDS-PP to ban flags of "ideological movements" on public buildings. Chega's bill was rejected, and the CDS-PP bill was sent to committee without a vote. The replacement text from the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees was then approved in plenary in the final global vote, with PSD, Chega, and CDS-PP voting in favour; PS, PAN, Livre, BE, and PCP voting against; and IL abstaining.

Constitutional concerns

During the committee discussion, Socialist deputy Pedro Delgado Alves noted in a report that the bill could be unconstitutional because it encroached on the decision-making sphere of the autonomous regions' bodies. The deputy also stated he did not "accompany the diagnosis" behind the bill. The president's detailed reasoning remains undisclosed until the parliamentary reading.