When it was all supposed to start, nothing started. It was already past the start time when one deputy asked another deputy in the hallways if “this is at 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.” This other guy didn’t know. It’s 10 a.m., Mr. Vice President, but that’s okay.
Downstairs, the cleaning workers were humming, no doubt delighted that the country was finally returning to the democratic debate. When they returned to Parliament, almost all their faces were there: Santos Silva, Sergio Souza Pinto, Eurico Brillante Dias, Joana Mortagua, André Ventura, Cotrim de Figueiredo, André Coelho Lima and Isabel Moreira. Also Pedro Nuno Santos, who arrived on the bike only in the afternoon (perhaps he is exaggerating in saying that the delay is magic).
Rui Rocha, IL’s leader, showed up at 9:40 a.m. — by Uber. His nervous move was a warning of what would happen next in the plenary session: a surprise jab at Santos Silva (including references to his closeness to José Socrates) regarding Lula’s statements about Putin, recalling the Brazilian president’s visit to Parliament on April 25 and opposition to his eventual return. . Chiga’s seat applauded him ecstatically.
Inside there is a debate about health. Here, politics. Small groups of MPs form in the corridors discussing local politics – and Northern accents often abuse the discretion required. Deputies also come to the bar. My favorite menu is the coffee (35 cents) with pastel de nata. Regarding the latter, MP Isabelle Meirelles, from the Public Security Directorate, went into great detail: she wanted it “undercooked” and peeled it before putting it in her mouth.
We left the bar and found Isabel Moreira, a Socialist Party MP, photographing the exhibition celebrating the centenary of poet Natalia Correa, the historic Social Democratic Party and Party of the Democratic Revolution parliamentarian, who was honored on Friday morning in Parliament. Of the three times we went into this room during the morning, this was the only time we saw a deputy paying attention.
The arcade continued to be the stage. It all happened there: from advertisements — such as National paper, one of Chiga’s publications, appeared mysteriously at the service table – with sympathy, as when a PSD deputy praised Inés Souza Real, of the National Action Party, as “very elegant”. Journalists have also been provided courtesy, with those providing their contact details through QR codes Duly printed on business cards.
The hallways smelled like home
And when the end seems to be approaching, you understand that there are things that simply have no end. Once the plenary agenda is completed, MPs leave the session in an orderly manner. Nuno Saraiva, advisor to the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party, greets them, bows his torso slightly and wishes them good morning.
Those who entered later remained late: she had already finished working for fifteen minutes when Pedro Nuno Santos and Thiago Barbosa Ribeiro, one of his dolphins, burst into the corridor.
They discuss politics. Barbosa Ribeiro, who was the Socialist Party’s candidate for the Porto Chamber in the last municipal elections, complains to Pedro Nuno about matters. Many things, but little things: councils here, regions there, a lot of “men” and, above all, a lot of bad words (in two minutes we counted four sounds coming out of the mouth of the Porto citizen).
Barbosa Ribeiro, annoyed, shouts in his voice. Pedro Nuno, tall, serious, imposing, nods. He asks short questions, while Barbosa Ribeiro gives long answers.
Politics continues to be made and Pedro Nuno Santos continues to make politics. He did it in the ministries, he did it in the party, and now he will do it in Parliament, where the hallways always smell like home. We cannot talk about the return of Parliament without talking about your return. The eternal future leader of the Socialist Party is always reinventing himself – and always coming back: after all, it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of Pedro Nuno Santos.
