The Prime Minister said on Saturday that he does not remember speaking publicly about who called the Attorney General of the Republic to the Palace of Belém and stressed that he never broadcasts conversations with the President of the Republic in heteronyms.
These messages were conveyed by António Costa during the meeting of the PS National Commission in Parque das Nações in Lisbon, after he was confronted with the fact that the President of the Republic had said on Friday in Bissau that he was the first minister to give him asked Lucília to call Gago to the Palácio de Belém so that she could explain the process involving the still leader of the executive branch.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made this point after pointing out that this request had already been publicly mentioned by the Prime Minister, but António Costa asked journalists last Saturday to verify whether he himself had ever spoken publicly about the matter.
In the presence of the journalists, he started by emphasizing a point of principle: “In eight years as Prime Minister, it is my principle that neither I nor the heteronyms writing in the newspapers say what happens in the conversations between me and the President of the Republic – and now I will certainly not change this practice.”
“Conversations between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister are not conversations between two people who know each other, but between two holders of sovereign bodies. The day one person begins to think he can say what the other said, or what the other did. “I am not saying that relations between sovereign bodies will certainly become less smooth,” António Costa warned.
For his part, António Costa said he believes that over the past eight years “no one has observed any failure in maintaining an absolutely impeccable relationship with all sovereign bodies.”
“I will remain like this until the last day of my duties,” he added.
When journalists asked him if he had ever spoken publicly about asking the President of the Republic to call Lucília Gago to the Belém Palace, the Socialist leader answered the question.
“You will have to ask the President of the Republic what public comment I made, but I can’t think of any. If I were to make a public comment, no one would be better than the journalists [que] They will be here to know what comment I made or not. If I have made any public comment, I have certainly done so in the presence of Your Excellencies,” he added.
Costa points to the instability on the right and hopes that PR does not implement further dissolutions
The Socialist Secretary General characterized the outbreak of a political crisis as irresponsible, pointed to the instability on the right and said he hoped that the President of the Republic would not be forced to dissolve parliament more often.
António Costa mainly tried to highlight the possible negative consequences of the political crisis in a complex situation at international level.
“The PS has all the conditions to win the elections, as the right offers an alternative of instability. Even an arithmetic right-wing parliamentary majority dependent on Chega will never be a government majority, because Chega is not a party like the others.” defended.
The leader of the executive branch referred not only to Chega’s far-right ideology, but also to the behavior of the leaders of this political force. Therefore, in his perspective, this party will be “a permanent factor of instability”.
“What we all hope is that this was the last dissolution of the current President of the Republic and that the Head of State will not be faced with the need to carry out new dissolutions in the future,” he warned.
For António Costa, this dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic was “totally unreasonable and unnecessary, but – that’s it – it’s done”.
“Now, don’t be forced to do anything else. Therefore, it is essential that the right does not have a majority in the Assembly of the Republic and that there can be other solutions. Chega does not exist to rule, Chega exists to dispute and disturb,” accentuated.
He also left another message, this one addressed to the PSD: “Let no one think that concluding an agreement with Chega and having a majority in the Assembly of the Republic will create the conditions for governability.”
“It does not create it. On the contrary, it is a factor of enormous ungovernability,” he insisted.
Source: DN
