The siege surrounding the Minister of Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, appears to be intensifying. First, it was reported by the observer that her husband, businessman António Trigueiros de Aragão, had taken advantage of community funds after his wife took charge of them in government; this Friday it was heard, by the newspaper online Page one, that in one of the funded companies, THVM – Thermalvet, the minister’s husband partnered with a Chinese businessman, Zhu Xiaodong, who has been sentenced (along with his wife) to three years in prison (with suspended sentence) for corruption in the case of “Golden Visa”.
News of these connections prompted Chega this Friday to push for the idea that Ana Abrunhosa is “unable” to continue in the position of Minister of Cohesion. “We already had legal doubts, we already had ethical certainties, now Chega also has political certainties. The Minister of Cohesion is not in a position to remain a minister,” defended André Ventura.
In other words, its continuity will only lead to more wear and tear for the government, less credibility for the institutions and less ethics within government. Confronted by Expresso with his connection to the Chinese businessman convicted of corruption, António Trigueiros de Aragão said: “This gentleman is my friend, he will not cease to be my friend.” “I have no further comments,” he said.
On Thursday, the prime minister was confronted in parliament with news of community funding for the minister’s husband. António Costa responded by saying that the Cohesion Minister asked him about the “problem of conflict of interest” about a year ago.
“She herself made a request for advice to the general secretary of the presidency of the Council of Ministers, who said there was no conflict of interest, my legal adviser confirmed the same matter,” he explained, pointing out that despite this, a requested advice from the Advisory Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office on the issue “aware of the sensitivity of the issue”.
The opinion, issued on May 27, 2021, “is unequivocal in several respects” and “says very clearly that there is nothing to indicate that the validity of the act authorizing the application, nor of the act defining the grant, is affected. without the record breach of conduct by the Minister of Territorial Cohesion,” said the Prime Minister.
However, the PGR’s opinion pointed to “ambiguities” in the law governing conflicts of interest between politicians and their family members, and the PS was made available to “improve” them. The law has rules for public procurement, but not for the allocation of EU funds.
Source: DN
