The President of the Assembly of the Republic announced today that, as part of the parliamentary commemorations of the 50th anniversary of April 25, elected members who were victims of political imprisonment will be honored and the new interpretive center will be inaugurated.
These are two of the initiatives scheduled for 2024 as part of the program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of April 25 and the Constitution, which will continue until 2026 and were presented at a press conference by Augusto Santos Silva.
“We’re going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the democratic revolution and then the cycle of institutionalization of representative democracy in Portugal, including the first free elections on 25 April 1975 for the Constituent Assembly, the approval of the Constitution in 1976 and then the succession of elections (Assembly of the Republic, President of the Republic, regional legislative assemblies and local authorities). A cycle that concludes the process of institutionalizing representative democracy,” said the President of the Assembly of the Republic.
Augusto Santos Silva stressed that, from an institutional point of view, the Assembly of the Republic will have its own program. And, in terms of content, the political dimensions relating to the processes of the Constitution, the electoral component and the activity of the parties will be commemorated above all.
“This will be the focus of our activities, which will fit in with the national program of commemorations for the 50th anniversary of 25 April,” he said.
The former Minister of State and Foreign Affairs then made a point of mentioning that there will be work in close coordination with the National Commission, chaired by the President of the Republic, and with the executive committee, led by university professor Maria Inácia Rezola, who was attending the press conference.
In this context, Augusto Santos Silva also stressed that the organizing committee of the Assembly of the Republic, which he chairs, has members from all the parties represented in parliament and “has already approved the fundamental structure of the programme” following a public consultation process in which around half a hundred proposals for initiatives were collected, of which around a dozen were incorporated.
With regard to the coming year, he highlighted the inauguration on April 2 of the new Interpretive Center of the Assembly of the Republic – “a beautiful initiative” of the previous president of parliament, Ferro Rodrigues, which is in the final stages of construction.
“It will not only be a center for the interpretation of parliamentary life for different audiences, particularly young people, but also another auditorium and exhibition space, enabling civic meetings and cultural events,” he said.
With regard to next year’s program, Augusto Santos Silva then highlighted the tribute to “all those who, with their efforts before April 25, fought against the Estado Novo, contributed to the overthrow of the fascist regime and the establishment of democracy”.
“We’ll be paying tribute to members of parliament who were elected in several terms and who were political prisoners before April 25. We will also pay tribute to those who supported them in this struggle. By consensus, the organizing committee believes that an exemplary way to do this is to pay tribute to the National Commission for the Relief of Political Prisoners,” he said.
Next year’s main exhibition will take place in the main hall, between April and July, and will be dedicated to Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, in partnership with the Arpad-Szenes Foundation, entitled “Vieira da Silva and freedom”.
“She is the author of the two most emblematic posters of April 25: Freedom, and Poetry is in the Street. Throughout her artistic life, she gave a special focus to freedom,” said the President of the Assembly of the Republic.
Throughout 2024, there will be public debates with MPs in the 22 constituencies, including the two of emigration; a photography competition for young talent; and a theater show conceived from the Sessions Diary to be premiered later this year – an initiative proposed as part of the public consultation.
The thematic areas of the initiatives, according to Augusto Santos Silva, are institutional, with solemn sessions; youth involvement; thought and debate; editorial activity with studies on the Constitution, and publication of books on party history or parliamentary journalism; exhibitions and artistic interventions, visual and audiovisual arts; performing arts; and interventions in the urban space.
Exhibition on José Carrilho Videira from Marvan and the Implantation of the Republic