Mário Centeno acknowledged on Monday that he was not invited by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to succeed António Costa as prime minister.
The governor of the Bank of Portugal wrote on the website of the entity he heads that it was Costa who invited him to “think about the conditions” that could allow him to assume leadership of the government and that this invitation was “the result of the discussions that the Prime Minister had with the President of the Republic”.
“As an exercise of citizenship, I agreed to reflect,” Centeno said.
“It was not possible in this short time frame to resolve all the conditions for carrying out what was asked of me. In this way there was never any acceptance of the position, but only an agreement to continue the reflection and complete it in the foreseeable future. in accordance with the decision that the Lord President of the Republic would take,” he added.
In the last paragraph of the statement, Mário Centeno emphasizes: “As a result of this option, it is unequivocal that the President of the Republic has not invited me to head the government.”
In statements to the newspaper Financial timesOn Sunday, the governor of the Bank of Portugal stated that he had “received an invitation from the President and the Prime Minister to reflect and consider the possibility of leading the government” and that he was “far from making a decision “.
In turn, the Prime Minister, António Costa, who resigned on Tuesday, took up Thursday the defense of a new government led by Mário Centeno, to avoid early parliamentary elections, and regretted that the President of the Republic had chosen to suspend Parliament to dissolve. .
In a communication to the country, the President of the Republic announced on Thursday the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of early parliamentary elections on March 10, 2024, scheduled by the President of the Republic, following the resignation of the Prime Minister, on March 10, 2024. Tuesday – fair.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, António Costa is the target of an investigation referred to the Supreme Court after suspects in a case involving lithium, green hydrogen and a data center in Sines invoked his name as having intervened to unblock proceedings.
When he resigned, the prime minister refused to commit “any unlawful or reprehensible act”.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the case involving lithium, green hydrogen and the data center in Sines may include crimes, active and passive corruption of political office holders and influence peddling.
Here’s the full statement:
“Following the events resulting from the Prime Minister’s resignation, he invited me on November 7 to consider the conditions that could allow him to assume the position of Prime Minister.
The invitation for this reflection arose from the discussions that the Prime Minister had with the President of the Republic.
As an exercise of citizenship, I agreed to think.
It was not possible to meet all the conditions in this short time to be able to carry out what was asked of me. In this way, there was never any acceptance of the position, but only an agreement to continue and complete the reflection, depending on the decision that the President of the Republic would make.
After the Council of State of November 9, the President of the Republic opted for the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic.
As a result of this option, it is unequivocal that the President of the Republic did not invite me to head the government.”
Source: DN
