Parliament set to reject decree stripping nationality for crimes

Portugal’s parliament looks set to reject a proposal, pushed by the far-right Chega party, that would have confirmed a decree allowing courts to strip people of Portuguese nationality as an additional penalty for certain crimes. The decree had already been unanimously declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and vetoed by the President of the Republic, and a revised version proposed by the governing PSD and its CDS coalition partner also appears headed for defeat.

What happened

Confirming the original decree required a two-thirds majority of deputies present, so long as that also exceeds an absolute majority of all deputies in office — a high bar given the cross-party opposition it faces. During the parliamentary debate, PSD quickly distanced itself from Chega’s push to confirm the vetoed decree, with the party’s deputy group vice-president stressing the need to respect the Constitutional Court’s ruling by narrowing the range of crimes that could trigger loss of nationality.

CDS lawmakers echoed that caution, urging Chega to accept a more limited list of qualifying crimes now, with the possibility of broadening it later, rather than risk losing the measure entirely. Chega leader André Ventura rejected that compromise, accusing PSD and CDS of watering down the legislation by dropping crimes such as slavery, paedophilia and human trafficking from the list, leaving mainly terrorism and crimes against the state.

Why it matters for residents

The proposal has drawn significant attention from foreign residents, some of whom hold Portuguese nationality alongside their original citizenship. Reports have noted that more than 1,200 foreign residents already filed complaints over related changes to nationality law, reflecting concern about how such penalties might be applied and to whom.

Because all left-wing parties in parliament are expected to vote against both the original decree and the PSD-CDS alternative, neither version is likely to secure the 116 votes needed for an absolute majority. The Liberal Initiative also signalled it would not back either proposal, with one of its deputies questioning whether an accessory penalty of loss of nationality should exist in the first place.

What happens next

With Chega, the political left, and the Liberal Initiative all opposed for different reasons, the practical effect is that no version of this loss-of-nationality penalty is expected to pass in the current vote. This means Portugal’s nationality law is likely to remain unchanged on this specific point for now, though the debate over tightening rules around dual nationality and citizenship continues to feature in wider discussions about immigration and nationality policy.