“It is in parliaments that decisions are taken, consensus is reached”

O president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-White, today in Maputo, argued that parliaments should be spaces of respect, credibility and the “right place” to find “solutions” and “consensus” for the problems of society.

“It is in parliaments that decisions are taken, it is in parliaments that consensus is obtained, it is in parliaments that the laws that then impact on the daily lives of people, citizens are adopted. And the parliaments must be precisely that area of respect, prestige, credibility, in which society looks to parliament as the right place to find solutions to its problems,” said Aguiar-White.

The president of the Portuguese parliament today began an official visit to Mozambique, at the invitation of the Assembly of the Mozambican Republic, with a meeting with the Portuguese community in Maputo, within the traditional magusto organized locally, at the Portuguese School.

“The practice we can exchange between Portugal and Mozambique is parliamentary practice that effectively allows us to find the best solutions, it is a space of conversations, of dialogues that we will have and I have no doubt that strengthening the prestige of parliaments as a space for consensus and decision-making also contributes to better harmony in society,” he added.

The visit runs until November 11, between Maputo and the city of Beira, at the invitation of the president of the Assembly of the Mozambican Republic, Margarida Talapa, also predicting a meeting with the head of state, Daniel Chapo.

“ I made a point of also starting this official visit to Mozambique precisely with a meeting with the Portuguese community, also taking advantage of a magust that is a traditional feast in Portugal, and feeling how strong is the human relationship between Portuguese, Mozambicans from different backgrounds and that strengthens the relationship, which is the strongest relationship between two peoples, which is the human relationship ", highlighted.

According to Aguiar-Branco, the visit aims to “strike relations” between the two parliaments: “We know well that parliamentary relations are important for structuring what should be a democratic regime and the collaboration we have had between Portugal and Mozambique has been exemplary at this level.”.

“ And also to see what it is possible to build for the future. We know well that we share a history, we share the past, it is the common ground that unites us, but it is important to build the future. And there are several areas where this future can be built and we will certainly also exchange good impressions on this matter so that a relationship of hope and positive strength can always be renewed between Portugal and Mozambique”, he concluded.

Even today, José Pedro Aguiar-White participated in the opening of the exhibition “Solidary Artists”, in Camões – Centro Cultural Português.

On Monday he will meet with the Mozambican counterpart, still in Maputo, a meeting during which the two leaders will sign a cooperation protocol between the parliaments of Portugal and Mozambique. After signing the agreement, the President of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic will make a speech at the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique.

“ We know that Mozambique currently presides over the Parliamentary Assembly of the CPLP and Portugal will be the next host (...) We will exchange some views in the political field, but not only, we also know that we must start thinking about the economy of our countries too,” said Happy Silvia, deputy and head of the parliamentary bench of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, party in power).

For the deputy, Aguiar-White’s official visit “is extremely important” in the context of Mozambique’s national plan to achieve “economic independence”.

“Portugal is one of Mozambique’s largest political but also economic partners. And, this visit, we believe it will relaunch further in the parliamentary field, because the Assembly of the Republic has to start looking not only at political issues, but also at economic issues. Our peoples are growing, our peoples have to cement relations even more,” he said, highlighting the importance of implementing the mobility agreement in the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP).