The President of the Republic this Wednesday asked for common sense in the application of the constitution by the political and judicial powers and that they act without escaping control, within their powers and without giving the impression of being at war.
Speaking to journalists, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said at the end of a visit to the National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection in Oeiras, in the Lisbon district, that he wanted to “avoid anything that could create problems in the separation of powers” . .
“This matter must be acted upon in a manner that allows each body to exercise its powers so that the Portuguese do not feel that there is some kind of war or strife going on between those who are politically responsible, i.e. elected by the people, and those who work in terms of judicial investigation,” he added.
The head of state, who had been questioned about the possibility of the Republic’s Attorney General Lucília Gago being summoned to parliament over the searches at the PSD national headquarters and the residence of former PSD president Rui Rio, did not want to direct comments on this matter or the statements made in this regard by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva.
Without analyzing the performance of the various bodies in this case, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that “what is at stake is that the constitution works well, that the rule of law is respected and that citizens have confidence in the institutions”.
And citizens can lose confidence if they are convinced that there are institutions that go too far in their ways, or that there are institutions that seem to want to evade scrutiny or scrutiny, or get involved in arguments over the limits. ” of his powers. All this requires something fundamental called applying the Constitution with common sense,” he defended.
According to the President of the Republic, his position is “that of an arbitrator and therefore not only does not cause problems in the separation of powers, but is also above other sovereign bodies, or which are not sovereign, because he is responsible for many times ultimately breaking the fuse are in relation to everyone”.
Source: DN
