Former PSD president Rui Rio accused the prime minister on Tuesday of lying about the reasons that led him not to support the change in the law that gave municipalities a veto over the location of the future airport.
In a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Rio states that: “in an interview that went well for him, António Costa apologized for lying”.
“I did not say that I was not in favor of changing the law because the PSD did not understand the new airport. I said that I would never do it to make a specific situation viable. The law must be general and be abstract.”wrote the former Social Democratic leader, who led the party between March 2018 and July last year.
In an interview that went well for him, @antoniocostapm I’m sorry for lying.
I did not say that I did not support changing the law because the PSD did not agree on the new airport. He said he would never do it to make a specific situation viable. The law must be general and abstract.– Rui Rio (@RuiRioPT) October 3, 2023
In Monday evening’s interview, António Costa accused the PSD of saying “everything and the opposite” about the future Lisbon airport, emphasizing that he was “the first Prime Minister” who tried to overturn the decision of his predecessor, Pedro Passos Coelho, to accept with regard to the decision to settle in Montijo.
“When there were two municipalities that decided that they did not agree with that solution and it was necessary to change the law, Dr. Rui Rio said: ‘I am not in a position to change the law, because within PSD there is great doubt about the location’. And that’s how we got to the elections”said Antonio Costa.
“Fortunately, Dr. Luís Montenegro said he would not reopen the debate and agreed to jointly establish the methodology”the Prime Minister added, referring to the agreement between the government and PSD signed in the summer of last year on the methodology for choosing the location.
In March 2021, Rui Rio expressed support for the revision of the legislation to prevent a single municipality from vetoing the location of a national project such as the new Lisbon airport, but only after the government admitted that all hypotheses the location of the future airport would again be “on the table”, and not just Montijo.
“Therefore, if the government intends to change the law within this framework, we will agree to change that law. What we did not agree with was changing the law for the benefit of a specific project, which would be a tailor-made project.” law made. From the moment the projects are all open again to see which one is the best, it is time to reconsider the law”said Rui Rio at the time.
However, the change in law was only approved in July this year.
Source: DN
