Parliament on teleworking and open only for essential services

O president of the Assembly of the Republic has determined that, following the declaration of bad weather alert on national territory, Parliament will only be open on Wednesday for essential services, the rule being teleworking.

“ I conclude that, on November 11, 2026 [on Wednesday], the workers of the services of the Assembly of the Republic perform, as a rule, their functions on a telework basis, with the exception of those whose physical presence is indispensable to ensure the functioning of essential services and the support for the realization of parliamentary work”, wrote today José Pedro Aguiar-White in his order, to which the agency Lusa had access.

An order sent to the Secretary-General of the Assembly of the Republic, Anabela Cabral Ferreira, to parliamentary groups and single members of the party, as well as to the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim.

The order states that, “following the declaration of the alert situation throughout the continental territory”, for Wednesday, “announced by the Government through the statement of the Ministry of Internal Administration, and in view of the worsening of weather conditions foreseen for that date, preventive measures should be taken to safeguard the safety of the workers of the Assembly of the Republic and reduce travel to parliamentary facilities to the strictly necessary”.

Those measures, however, according to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, should be “compatible with the need to ensure the continuity of parliamentary activity and the smooth functioning of the services essential to its development, in particular those supporting the work relating to the assessment of the State Budget for 2027”.

José Pedro Aguiar-Branco then stresses that it is the responsibility of the Secretary-General, in conjunction with the leaders of the services, “to ensure the execution of this order, by adopting the organizational measures necessary for the continuity of parliamentary activity and the regular functioning of the services”.

Prior to the order with the decision to limit Parliament's activity to minimum or essential services, the issue of security of officials of the Assembly of the Republic was the subject of reflection this morning at a meeting of the Board of Directors, a body led by the Social Democratic Deputy Emídio Guerreiro.

At that meeting, especially in view of the Government's decision to put the national territory in a state of alert due to the bad weather forecast, this Wednesday, the Board of Directors of the Assembly of the Republic defended the need to avoid as much as possible face-to-face work in Parliament and to adopt the procedure for public administration. Continental Portugal will be on alert between 00:00 and 23:59 Wednesday, due to the possible worsening of the state of time with the arrival of depression Charles, it is expected that Lisbon, Leiria, Setúbal, Beja and Faro will be the most affected regions.

The government has decided to close non-essential schools and public services in all districts, and the authorities have admitted to closing bridges and air traffic restrictions.

According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), “the occurrence of heavy rain or shower periods, strong wind, with gusts that can reach 120 kilometers/hour and, in case of formation of the phenomenon ‘sting jet’ (air current that quickly descends inside an extratropical depression, accelerating towards the surface), exceed 150 kilometers/hour”.

Red weather warnings (the maximum level) were issued for the continent, for Wednesday, and also for Madeira, as of tonight. In the archipelago the schools will be closed in the morning.