Its use will be penalized with between €200 and €4,000

The majority of right-wing Parliament of Portugal took the first step this Friday to prohibit covering one’s face in public places, a proposal presented by the ultra Chega party against the burqa, which now goes to a legislative commission before returning to the plenary session for the final vote.

The bill was approved in a first vote in the chamber with the support of the two partners in the Government, the Social Democratic Party (PSD, center-right) and the Christian Democrat CDS-PP, as well as the Liberal Initiative (IL) and Chega.

They opposed the Socialist Party (PS), the environmentalist Livre, the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) and the Communist Party of Portugal (PCP), while the animalist PAN and the regionalist JPP abstained.

In his text, Chega advocates veto the use of “clothing intended to hide or hinder the exhibition of the face” in public spaces, in addition to prohibit “forcing someone to hide their face due to gender or religion” and proposes sanctions of 200 to 4,000 euros.

The draft includes exceptions when covering your face in public places “is justified” for safety, health, professional, artistic or entertainment reasons, among others, as well as on airplanes, places of worship and embassies.

During the heated debate in Parliament, Chega president André Ventura linked the burqa, which covers the entire face and body in some Islamic countries such as Afghanistan, with immigration.

“Whoever arrives in Portugal, coming from wherever he comes from, whatever region he is from, whatever customs he has and whatever religion he has, “must above all comply with, respect and ensure respect for the customs and values ​​of this country,” said.

Therefore, he alleged that Her party has presented this initiative “to prohibit women from being forced to hide their faces completely, whether it has to do with their identity or religious obligation.

“Today Chega wants to prevent women from walking around with burqas in Portugal and, being clear and with direct and understandable language for everyone, that a woman be forced to wear the burqa,” he noted.

The deputy of the Socialist Party (PS), Pedro Delgado Alves, He intervened to point out that Chega is creating a debate that “does not exist” in the country, since the main Muslim communities in Portugal do not support the burqa and “it is not representative.”

“People who profess the Islamic faith and reside in Portugal reject the burqa,” he stressed, “because the main Muslim communities in Portugal reject its use.”

There are no official statistics on the number of women who wear the full-face Islamic veil, which in some countries is known as the burqa or the niqab.

The vote on this proposal takes place after the president of the country, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will promulgate on Thursday a new version of the Foreigners Law, that imposes restrictions on immigrants and that was promoted by the Government, which carried it forward in Parliament with the votes of Chega.