Former President of the Republic Cavaco Silva admits that a head of government must dismiss ministers if they are disloyal or in case of “indications of corruption”, in a book to be presented in Lisbon this Friday.
If a minister, despite ‘excellent technical CVs’, ‘turns out to be a disaster due to a lack of political qualities, common sense, resilience’ or ‘psychological resistance’, he should be dismissed, writes the former PSD leader and former Prime Minister. Minister Cavaco Silva (1985-1995). book “The Prime Minister and the Art of Governing”, which is presented today.
“In such a case, the prime minister must put aside personal feelings and replace the minister as soon as he becomes aware of the mistake made in the choice,” reads the chapter devoted to the choice of ministers in the book, which does not mention any cases . There are also no references to names.
Keeping ministers incapacitated “for personal reasons or poor judgment” results in “serious harm to the country,” he concluded.
In the chapter on the evaluation of ministers Cavaco states that a head of government cannot criticize a minister “in the presence of anyone”, but emphasizes that he must dismiss him in five cases: lack of loyalty, “behavior that shows a lack of state feeling, offensive language, evidence of corruption, crimes and other serious violations of political ethics”.
Failure to do so, he said, “will seriously damage the prime minister’s political and moral credibility and authority.”
And it is also not advisable to have rulers based solely on their popularity ratings, nor should it be a “performance evaluation criterion of significant weight.”
“As has been verified, from the point of view of national interest, a popular minister may not be a good minister,” Cavaco Silva wrote, without naming names or cases.
In the book, the former head of the PSD government (1985-1995) also warns that the “investigation of people” chosen as ministers “is their exclusive responsibility and cannot be done in the public domain”.
Invitations to ministers, he writes, should start with independents, who do not belong to the party, to whom the department’s policies should be explained in more detail, made in secret and take no more than “one or two days” have to take.
Cavaco advises prime ministers not to respond to presidents in public – book
In the book, Cavaco Silva advises prime ministers not to comment publicly on presidential criticism, even if it is “unfair or wrong”, and to be concerned about preventing the president from preventing the government from implementing its policies.
In the book “The Prime Minister and the Art of Governing” the former head of government of the PSD (1985-1995) and former president (2006-2016) warns that no one benefits from a climate of conflict between the government and the presidency, as happened in the past between himself and President Mário Soares (1986-1996) and more recently between António Costa (PS) and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Unless the President “makes many mistakes” and/or “clearly exceeds his powers and this is perceived by public opinion”, Cavaco admits in the chapter dedicated to the relationship between the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic in the Portuguese political system .
Without ever referring to cases or people, and in the style of a political essay, Cavaco Silva makes in the book ‘reflections on what the Prime Minister’s behavior should be’ if his government is to be ‘successful’, as described by himself in the foreword of the book, presented today in Lisbon by Durão Barroso, former minister of Cavaco and former prime minister of a PSD/CDS government.
The most important thing for the executive leader, he argues, is that “the president adopts a behavior characterized by impartiality and independence” towards the parties, “does not interfere in the political struggle and does not act as a countervailing force in relation to the government, rather guarantees institutional cooperation”.
In a political system where the president has no executive powers, and without being able to present “alternatives to the programme” of governments, the former PSD leader advises a prime minister to “avoid responding publicly” to presidential criticism , even if the “consider unfair or wrong”.
He defended that he should “reserve to express his differences” during a weekly meeting between the two or “through a personal phone call, which would allow him to highlight the risk of the president being used as a ‘throwing weapon’ in the battle between the parties. “.
Cavaco Silva’s other advice to prime ministers is to have a “broad interpretation of the obligation to provide information” to the president and not to “create barriers to requests” to meet individual ministers”, and is also “exemplary in judgment about the content. of conversations.”
The Finance professor who has governed the longest in a democracy warns that the Prime Minister should use weekly meetings, usually on Thursdays, to adopt a serious, down-to-earth, rigorous and non-speculative style, avoiding discussing party political intrigues or ‘fait divers’ should be avoided. ‘”, reads the book “The Prime Minister and the Art of Governing (Porto Editora).
During his career, Cavaco Silva met two presidents: Ramalho Eanes, when he was Minister of Finance under Sá Carneiro (1980), and Mário Soares, historical leader of the PS.
As President of the Republic, he met three Prime Ministers between 2006 and 2016: José Sócrates (PS), Pedro Passos Coelho (PSD) and António Costa (PS).
The 226-page book, which includes an original essay by Cavaco Silva on ‘the art of governing’, brings together articles published on European, economic and political themes, including ‘Politicians and Gresham’s Law’, according to which ‘ the bad currency drives the economy’. out good currency”, published in 2004, when Pedro Santana Lopes (PSD) was Prime Minister.
Source: DN
