In the bill that was delivered today to the Assembly of the Republic, the deputies defend that, "for the defense of freedom and democracy", it is "just as important to celebrate the 25th of April, as it is to celebrate the 25th of November".

"As such, and given that the first is a national holiday, it is essential for Chega that the 25th of November, the day of the conquest of freedom in the face of a communist dictatorship, and consequent defeat of the extreme-left forces, should also be one", they point out.

Chega points out that "it is to the 25th of November and its heroes, of unquestionable courage and honour", that the country owes its "freedom and democracy", and so it is a "duty to honour them, marking this date with the respect and praise it deserves".

"Therefore, the Chega Parliamentary Group proposes that the 25th of November be a national holiday from 2025, the year of the 50th anniversary of this fundamental historical moment for Portuguese democracy", the bill reads.

Chega also accuses political forces of trying to "deny or devalue the importance of the 25th of November, perhaps because, on that very day, the unwavering courage of some prevented their totalitarian and perverse agendas from triumphing".

The party had already presented a proposal with the same intention in the last legislature, but the initiative ended up expiring without being voted on, with the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic.

The PSD/CDS-PP Government decided to create a commission to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 25th of November in 2025.

IL proposed that the programme of commemorations of the 25th of April include a ceremony for the fiftieth anniversary of the 25th of November 1975 next year and the CDS-PP wants the Assembly of the Republic to hold an annual solemn session to evoke this day.

On the 25th of November 1975, about a thousand paratroopers from the Tancos School Base occupied the Monsanto Air Region Command and six air bases, an act that the Group of Nine - a group of military from the moderate wing of the Armed Forces Movement - considered an indication that a coup d'état could be in preparation by the so-called military left.

The attempted uprising of those military units, linked to sectors of the extreme left, was stopped by a force based on the Amadora commando regiment, under the direction of then Lieutenant-Colonel Ramalho Eanes, future President of the Republic.

At the end of the afternoon, the then President of the Republic, Francisco da Costa Gomes, decreed a state of siege in the Lisbon region, and the situation was controlled by the military loyal to the Group of Nine in the MFA.

The events of the 25th of November 1975 had several versions over the decades and caused divisions over the responsibilities of each of the actors and over who took the first step.

Read Also: Chega wants criminal action against Marcelo (who has already reacted). "That's life" (Portuguese version)