This Wednesday, the PS failed to pass the parliamentary hearing of the Minister of Defense, Helena Carreiras, requested by Chega, due to the fact that the government official kept in office the Secretary General of that ministry, João Ribeiro, who had been named a defendant in an autonomous process called the ‘Perfect Storm’.
Chega’s request, in the Defense Committee, received votes in favor of the PSD and the Liberal Initiative (IL), but was blocked by votes against by the absolute parliamentary majority of the PS.
At issue is the fact that the Secretary General of the Ministry of National Defense was named a defendant in August, after participating in an interrogation by the National Anti-Corruption Unit, in the context of the ‘Perfect Storm’ trial, as was raised in mid-2011. September the weekly magazine Expresso, which specifies that João Ribeiro is suspected of abuse of power and computer fraud. The defense minister kept João Ribeiro in office, something that did not happen with former defense secretary Marco Capitão Ferreira, who resigned a day after being accused of corruption.
Discussing the request, Chega deputy Pedro Pessanha said it was important to “understand the reasons why the minister would keep Defense Ministry Secretary General João Ribeiro “in office after he was accused.”
Social Democratic deputy António Prôa, who recently took on the role of PSD coordinator in the Defense Committee, was in favor of Chega’s request “not so much from a punctual and episodic perspective, but because the current moment of this important sector of National Defense has coincided with a succession of cases that are all isolated, but which as a whole are worrying because of the image they convey”.
The parliamentary leader of the Liberal Initiative, Rodrigo Saraiva, agreed “There is currently an unfortunate atmosphere of distrust about many things happening in the Defense world” and was in favor of “all opportunities given to the government to clarify, clarify and also bring more transparency”.
Socialist deputy Diogo Leão justified the “leadership” of the initiative, arguing that “the minister has done nothing different in recent months” and recalling that Helena Carreiras has already sat “more than once” in the Defense Committee to respond to “political issues”. surrounding processes in the field of Defense and business, which concern everyone.” The Socialist parliamentarian emphasized that the trials are being investigated “in the appropriate institutions, by the judicial authorities.” Regarding the retention of João Ribeiro at the Ministry of Defense as Secretary General, Diogo Leão emphasized that the Public Prosecutor’s Office “did not ask for preventive suspension of functions”. “I think it is necessary to have confidence in the institutions and the PS faction does not think that these data that Chega has now provided to this committee, based on media sources, are relevant for us to approve a hearing ” to the Minister of Defense , he concluded.
Source: DN
