Portuguese President António José Seguro on Wednesday vetoed a draft law that aims to prohibit the display of flags “of an ideological, partisan or associative nature” on public buildings.
The center-left head of state did not immediately disclose the reasoning behind his decision to veto the legislative proposal, which was approved in April by the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), the far-right Chega party and the conservative CDS-PP. In a statement, the Portuguese Presidency said his explanation had been relayed to the country’s parliament, which would be tasked with sharing it with the wider public.
The bill would have prohibited the display of ideological, partisan or associative flags on public buildings, while also restricting the use of most foreign flags outside official diplomatic events. Only Portugal’s national flag, the European Union flag and official institutional flags belonging to state bodies, local authorities, the armed forces and security services could be displayed on public property.