Portuguese politicians of all parties have rejected a 138,000-signature petition against the airing of weekly political commentary by former Socialist (PS) Prime Minister José Sócrates on Portuguese TV channel RTP.
Formal rejection was written up by Socialist MP Isabel Moreira and later approved by the commission for constitutional affairs, rights, liberties and guarantees.
Moreira stressed that the petition presented to Parliament on January 14 was “illegal” according to the Constitution, especially as it attempted to limit free-speech.
The PSD’s Hugo Velosa agreed and said that the government cannot decide who the media chooses to broadcast on its programmes.
The actual president of the commission, Fernando Negrão, admitted he was happy with the decision, adding that any other kind of result would be an incentive to the limitation of human rights.
