EMB-175 First Officer reported that the MEL where the First Officer's seat adjustment mechanism was not functional was not safe for aircraft release.

Narrative

This incident occurred upon arrival to start my day and trip at around XA:15; which was about 20 minutes prior to show time. I noticed when I got to the flight deck that my seat - FO (First Officer) seat - was MEL'd to not move side to side. Upon further adjusting it was actually the whole thing of not moving side to side or forward and backward. I believe the MEL is 25-XX-XX-XX. I called Dispatch and let them know as well as being connected to Maintenance and that someone should come out to the plane and ultimately fix it so I could at least move forward and backwards as there was ample time to fix such a thing. Maintenance came out and tried to lube up the tracks; clean up floor debris etc.; so it would move. Upon further examination; he noticed the cable was broken; so he went ahead and MEL'd the forward and backward sliding mechanism too. I explained to him that I do not like that and quite frankly was going to refuse the plane had there not been outside maintenance pressure saying they did not have the tools to fix it then. It's a huge safety hazard to be doing that; as the Captain would have to stretch around and reach under the seat and unlock a handle just so I could move. I explained that what if an urgent situation happens and I'm stuck in my forward takeoff position in a rushed environment to get myself and any other crew to safety. That Captain is not going to think to move/stretch his body around the middle console to unlock my seat and possibly cause harm to him with me rushing to push back as well. Also; what if there is a height or size issue with 1 or even both of us in a situation that is time sensitive to safety; or what if both are MEL'd and we have to do it for both? Even if it is legal; is it really putting pilots in a safe situation just so the plane can go on time.I understand that sometimes; things break and parts are on the way; other planes are down and it's the only one we can take; etc. I suggest something like this be put more in the let's get it done ASAP column or at least the Cat B column for maintenance. I have spoken to a couple mainline pilots about this issue and have gotten unanimous 'that is a no-go from me' answer if that were to arise there. Now I know we aren't mainline and don't have that kind of manpower; but an issue like this needs to be brought to light more seriously if we are going to be so keen on making sure pilots [are] given the most safe tools to get the job done.