On Thursday, the President of the Republic dismissed any discomfort over the fact that the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, had spoken at the end of the debate on the 2024 state budget, citing Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. For the head of state, there was “no good or very good solution” in the sale of Efacec, taking into account “the value it would have had” if the “context had been different”.
“On the issue of infrastructure, apart from the declaration or non-enforcement of the veto on TAP, it is an issue that I have never discussed”” said the head of state at an event with startups in the former Picadeiro Real, in Belém. “That is why the inconvenience of an intervention, which is above all an intervention in the field of infrastructure, is an inconvenience that is not for me. is an inconvenience that can be experienced by anyone who has dealt with this subject in the near or distant past. Not me,” concludes Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Regarding the possible political message that would have been chosen by João Galamba to speak at the end of the budget debate, a minister that Marcelo suggested should be removed from the government, given the controversy with one of his advisors at the Ministry of Infrastructure in May. this year Marcelo removed any importance the subject could have had. ‘The government chooses who speaks. I’m going to see who speaks first, second, third, fourth, fifth? Okay, instead of speaking on the first day, speak on the second or third day. With the problems the world has and the problems the country has, how important is this? Zero”concluded the President of the Republic.
Regarding the sale of Efacec, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalled that “in the meantime an apparent solution to the problem had been found by a group, but it failed. There was an accumulation of complicated situations here and we found ourselves in a situation rightly where we have reached,” the President analyzed.
Regarding the decision to sell and the process, Marcelo doubted the possibilities. “Is it good for the situation that the situation is in, given the international situation and the time that has passed? I admit that the minister approves of it. Is it good now in terms of what we would want and want for Efacec in a different context? I think it falls short of what we dreamed, thought and admitted over time was possible for Efacec,” said Marcelo.
“Some will say: for what it has actually become worth, for the strategic importance of Efacec, it is not much. Others will say: when there was a risk that there would be nothing and therefore that a situation would arise that would damage the Portuguese reputation of the state and its reputation in different contracts, in different markets, are a way out”concluded the President of the Republic.
Source: DN
