PSD, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, and CDS approved, on 9 July, in committee, a bill known as the "burqa law," which aims to prohibit the concealment of the face in public spaces, despite opposition from the parliamentary left.

This vote in the Constitutional Affairs Committee was the same as the one that took place when this bill, which originated with Chega, was approved in general last October. It then remained stalled for about eight months awaiting discussion in committee.

In June, the PSD presented a replacement bill for the original Chega bill, focusing on security reasons inherent in the prohibition on concealing the face to downplay the issue of Islamic burqas.

Changes to the proposal

In light of its initial proposal, Chega added age or origin to the list of reasons why no one can be coerced into concealing their face, in addition to gender and religion, and changed the name of its own project: Where it previously read "prohibits the concealment of the face in public spaces except for certain exceptions," it now reads "prohibits the concealment of the face in public spaces for reasons of security and public order."

In cases of forced concealment of the face, in the initial version of the project, Chega advocated the application of the crime of coercion, with a prison sentence of up to three years. And this sentence would be increased by one-third when the victim was a minor. Chega now proposes an administrative offence punishable by a fine of between 150 and 750 euros in cases of negligence, and between 400 and 3,000 euros in cases of intent.

Public safety

Although the PSD insisted that the legislation is intended to address public safety issues and highlighted that it was André Ventura's party that agreed to focus the legislation on a matter of national security, in terms of political discourse, MPs Madalena Cordeiro (Chega) and Rui Rocha (Liberal Initiative), in their speeches, emphasised the idea of ​​combating the concealment of faces for religious reasons.