The PS faction leader pointed out on Monday that the accusations against Minister João Gomes Cravinho come from a defendant in the ‘Perfect Storm’ case and that he may be the victim of someone who committed crimes.
This position was conveyed by Eurico Brilhante Dias at the Ponte de Sôr airport, in the Portalegre district, as part of the decentralized meetings of the management of the PS Parliamentary Group.
When asked whether João Gomes Cravinho has the political conditions to continue to perform government functions after the latest developments in the context of the ‘Perfect Storm’ process, Eurico Brilhante Dias asked for a careful reading of the news reported last Friday the weekly magazine Expresso was published.
“It bothers me that people don’t read all the news that appeared in a weekly magazine on Friday. It states in black and white that the personality in question, the suspect in this case, is a personality, says the same newspaper, which, together with other defendants, heard how they devised a strategy to involve politicians,” responded the leader of the socialist Bank.
The chairman of the PS faction said that it is difficult for him to do politics by accusing the current Foreign Minister, João Gomes Cravinho, “while it is known that this group of people, who naturally and legitimately have the right on the presumption of innocence, were heard trying to implicate politicians to divert attention.”
“At this stage it is easiest to accuse the minister who was in office. He is probably a victim of those who committed crimes in the Ministry of Defense. We must support all investigations that reveal the truth. Pointing the finger at the Minister who was in office is just a way to divert attention. That is probably what the current defendants wanted,” the chairman of the PS faction warned.
Eurico Brilhante Dias reiterated his statement that the “Defense Area Needs a General Audit”.
“Today we have news that the audit is actually taking place at the initiative of the minister,” Helena Carreiras added.
On Friday, the foreign minister “vehemently and unequivocally” denied any link with alleged cases of corruption in Defense, reiterating that he was not involved in the controversial contract with former Foreign Minister Marco Capitão Ferreira.
Expresso reported that one of the defendants in the “Perfect Storm” case, Paulo Branco, then responsible for finance at the Directorate General of National Defense Assets, implicated João Gomes Cravinho in the case of the signed consultancy contract worth about 50,000 euros. with Marco Capitao Ferreira.
According to the weekly, Paulo Branco stated that then Defense Minister João Gomes Cravinho had “agreed” or even “asked” to enter into a consultancy contract with Captain Ferreira to compensate him and “catch up on the bills” for work. carried out in a ‘ghost committee’ that operated within the sphere of influence of his office.
This accusation was denied by João Gomes Cravinho.
“I strongly and unequivocally reject the suggestion in the headline of the Expresso newspaper,” said João Gomes Cravinho.
Faced with demonstrations demanding compliance with the right to housing, the chairman of the PS faction considered that the situation in the sector is “serious”.
“It is no coincidence that within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan we have a package worth more than 3.5 billion euros, focused on housing. That takes time and there is no silver bullet to solve everything overnight. The Portuguese I know that anyone who tells them that they can solve the problem overnight is lying,” he stated.
Eurico Brilhante Dias defended that the PS “is balanced” and that in the area of the right “there are only initiatives to protect interests”.
“We know local accommodation is important, but we don’t want to touch anything on the right side. We restricted the golden visas, ending the golden visas for the real estate sector, but the right wanted to keep them. On our left we are asking for a freeze on rents and for such an intrusive form of the state that would probably paralyze the intervention of the sector in construction,” he considered.
In Ponte de Sor, Eurico Brilhante Dias, in the presence of journalists, sought to highlight the economic, social and scientific importance of the aviation cluster, as well as the projects within the scope of the Mobilizing Agendas.
“I emphasize the launch of the Pisão dam project as a central element. It will be a very important investment for Alentejo and we hope that it will be awarded in 2024,” he said, before referring to the visits that will be made this afternoon . to Portalegre Hospital, at Delta in Campo Maior and a cattle farm in Sousel.
“We will present a draft resolution for the requalification of the Portalegre court. We have strong expectations that the requalification and expansion will be a reality in the 2024 state budget,” he added.
Source: DN
