The hearing of the Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, scheduled for next Wednesday in Parliament as part of the 2024 state budget (OE2024), was postponed until Friday.
The hearing in the Budget and Finance Committee was scheduled for 3:30 PM, in the context of the specific assessment of Bill No. 109/XV/2.ª, which adopts OE2024, and now goes to 9:00 AM. November 10.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Action was among the places where searches were carried out on Tuesday on suspicion of corruption and crimes in the lithium and hydrogen sectors.
Duarte Cordeiro’s hearing will take place on the same day as the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, who was named on Tuesday by the Public Prosecution Service (MP) as a defendant in the investigation related to the lithium and green hydrogen sectors, the Public Prosecution Service said ( PGR).
Today’s parliamentary agenda now includes hearings before the Minister of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, at 2 p.m., and the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes, at 6 p.m., as part of the assessment in the specialty, from the OE2024 proposal.
Under the direction of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP), 17 house searches, five searches of a law firm and home and twenty non-domestic searches were carried out, namely in rooms used by the head of the Prime Minister’s Office. ; at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action; at the Ministry of Infrastructure and the State Secretariat for Energy and Climate; at the Sines Municipal Council and at the head offices of other public entities and companies.
The prime minister’s chief of staff, Vítor Escária, the mayor of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, two directors of the Start Campus association and an advisor were arrested.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, asked the President of the Republic for his resignation on Tuesday, who accepted it, after the Public Prosecution Service revealed that he is the target of an independent investigation by the Supreme Court into lithium and hydrogen projects.
The president called the parties to a hearing at the Palácio de Belém in Lisbon, and will meet with the Council of State on Thursday.
In a statement at the Palácio de São Bento, António Costa refused to commit “any unlawful or offensive act” and expressed his full willingness to cooperate with the justice system “in whatever he deems necessary.”
Source: DN
