José Aguiar Branco, the new president of Portugal’s parliament, has wasted no time in bringing in a number of new rules.
The ‘switching off’ of microphones of MPs who speak beyond their allotted time has been followed by rules of etiquette: he wants no more ‘tu’ or ‘voçe’ pronouns (familiar and polite forms of everyday speech).
Instead, MPs must stick to Mr MP (senhor deputado) or Ms MP (senhora deputada) ‘as a way of dignifying parliamentary business’. If speaking to the parliamentary president, Mr Aguiar Branco wants to be addressed as “senhor presidente”.
