The Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, confirmed on Friday morning that he is joining the supporters of José Luís Carneiro in the race for the leadership of the PS, presenting the Minister of the Interior as the candidate who “has a vision closer to” the policy is. of clear accounts and debt reduction”.
For the former mayor of Lisbon, who was seen as a potential opponent of the former Minister of Infrastructure Pedro Nuno Santos in the direct elections of the PS on December 16 and 17, continuity with the directives of the António Costa government is “ utmost importance for the country, especially in the phase we are in, of strong international and political instability”, and even with very high interest rates, “Portugal cannot waver at this time in the consistency regarding its economic and financial policies. ” added.
Recalling that José Luís Carneiro “embodies the fundamental values of modern social democracy, which the PS has represented for decades,” Fernando Medina joins other members of the current executive in the list of those who sided with the minister of the Interior. in the PS leadership dispute with former Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos.
José Luís Carneiro has also received support from the Secretary of State for Communities, Paulo Cafôfo, the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Isabel Oneto, and the Secretary of State for Education, António Leite. On the contrary, the Minister of Education, João Costa, is present together with Pedro Nuno Santos at the official presentation of his candidacy, which was attended by a crowd in Largo do Rato last Monday.
Carneiro’s new supporters also include José Leitão, former president of the Lisbon City Council and former High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities, for whom the current ruler is “better positioned to defeat the right and fight populism.”
In the Socialist Parliamentary Group, Paula Reis and Romualda Fernandes were joined by Constança Urbano de Sousa, Francisco Oliveira, Jamila Madeira, Joaquim Barreto, Lacerda Sales, Luís Soares, Maria Antónia Almeida Santos, Maria da Luz Rosinha, Pedro Cegonho and Susana Amador among the current deputies working at the Minister of the Interior.
On the side of José Luís Carneiro is also Augusto Santos Silva, with the President of the Assembly of the Republic revealing in the “Grande Interview” of RTP3 that he recognizes, among other things, the advantage of giving “better guarantees for the preservation of the political autonomy of the PS” in relation to possible parliamentary partners on his left, after the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 10 next year.
It was also announced that the mayor of Sintra, Basílio Horta, will join the honorary committee for the candidacy of José Luís Carneiro for Secretary General. The person in charge of the second largest Portuguese municipality is valued by the candidacy for his CV as founder of the CDS and president of AICEP.
Medina expects quick clarification from the PGR
On the Influencer operation, Fernando Medina says that he, like “thousands of Portuguese”, has “the expectation of a very quick clarification of the entire situation affecting those involved in this operation”.
“What seems essential to me is a clarification as quickly as possible of what has been written about the Prime Minister in a paragraph of the Public Prosecution Service”he appealed and refused to comment on the news that it was prosecutor Lucília Gago herself who decided to include information about António Costa in the last paragraph of the PGR statement.
For Medina, this is a “difficult time” in Portugal and therefore more information is needed from the judicial authorities about the trial.
António Costa is the target of an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) at the Supreme Court, after suspects in a trial investigating the abuse of influence in the affairs of a data center in Sines invoked his name for intervening to proceedings, but has already refused to commit “any unlawful or offensive act”.
Source: DN
