The mantra that António Costa has created to justify the retention of ministers and secretaries of state for eight years until they are accused or formally accused of some form of crime or illegality hit him with full force on Tuesday morning and Friday last week. Within hours, the prime minister resolved the crisis by resigning. He did not use the same evaluation scheme for himself as he did for others. By leaving office before a case was even opened against him, he did what he should have done. It’s a shame I couldn’t realize that for others the analysis grid and requirements should have been the same. Therefore, by wanting to guarantee the dignity of the position of Prime Minister, the Prime Minister has taken the dignity out of other positions, whether Secretary of State, Minister or senior public leader. Others can live with lawsuits and accusations, I can’t.
Costa does not leave S. Bento because of the fateful last paragraph of the famous communication from the communications agency to the newsrooms. Costa leaves office because he felt trapped by the actions of those closest to him, which was his own direct and personal choice. When the searches reach the room next to the Prime Minister’s office and more than 70,000 euros in banknotes appear, neatly hidden in boxes of wine and books, when his ‘best friend’, to whom he turns whenever he sees fit, he negotiated on behalf of the government and dealt with state affairs, was at the center of this entire process, precisely because he had access “to God”, Costa could not get out of this film in any way, typical of any country in Latin America.
Two days after his dismissal, Costa S. uses Bento and the role he continues to fill to this day to reject another friend and confess to being betrayed by his chief of staff. While trying to justify communicating with the country as a way to calm investors and calm the economy bruá international, takes the opportunity to determine the course of justice and its course, conducting its public defense even before being notified of any trial.
Costa leaves office because he felt trapped by the actions of those closest to him, which was his own direct and personal choice.
This time Justice entered politics and overthrew a prime minister with an absolute majority. Unfortunately, we will have to wait too long to find out if Costa is actually accused or if the signals and suspicions are just that. If Costa emerges from all this unscathed, it will be time for politicians to go to court. Today, Costa may have remembered much about Rui Rio and the need for urgent judicial reform. And maybe it gave the story of Socrates and the MP a reason.
The slowness of the Justice Department is not only related to procedural deadlines, the complexity of investigations and evidence production, appeals and other delaying tricks that will appear later in the process. The slow – and shameful – time of Justice is also due to the lack of conditions in the courts, the lack of judicial staff, the overload of processes and the lack of responsiveness of the system. In other words, just as Sócrates complained about the conditions under which he served his preventive detention, Costa complains that he will not be a candidate for another political office because he expects a very long trial. As Prime Minister, it was he who had to ensure the proper functioning of the judicial system, so that justice would be administered faster and more efficiently. Deep inside he complains about himself. Justice has been one of the most neglected areas over the past decade.
In the play on words, in ‘to justice what belongs to justice’ and ‘to politics what belongs to politics’, the lack of accountability is given space. Political power cannot and may not interfere with investigations and processes, but it does have a duty to provide the sector with all the resources so that justice can be done.
Journalist
Source: DN
