Former President of the Assembly of the Republic and former Socialist leader Ferro Rodrigues says his last fight will be for democracy and argued that justice must be held accountable for the process that overthrew the government.
This position, according to socialist sources, was defended by Ferro Rodrigues before the PS National Committee, taking place in the Parque das Nações in Lisbon, where he did not for the time being express support for any of the candidates to succeed. António Costa in the leadership of the Socialists.
Ferro Rodrigues’ intervention focused on the issue of justice and referred to the Casa Pia trial, when he led the PS, saying that “he had already seen this film twenty years ago”.
“My last fight, the fight of my life, will be for democracy,” declared the former PS Secretary General, in a speech criticizing the role of the judiciary in the process that led to the dismissal by Antonio Costa. the Prime Minister’s position last week.
In his speech, which was accessed by the Lusa agency, Ferro Rodrigues praised the Prime Minister and opined that his government with an absolute majority “was destroyed by the actions and omissions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PGR) and the Supreme Court. least”.
“It was not due to the opposition, their arguments or cries. It was not due to a lack of will or dedication on your part. It was not due to the social, economic or financial situation of our country, it was not even because This crisis, the most serious of our democracy, was caused almost on its fiftieth anniversary by an irresponsible statement, which was either aware of the consequences it would have, or was illiterate about the responsibility of the PGR, referring to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice,” he declared.
Ferro Rodrigues left a critical note on António Costa, noting that “he did not always know how to surround himself with impeccable people to fulfill the program of the parliament”.
“The PS must also learn from this. It is true that sometimes you are guided more by emotion than by the coldness of reason,” he further stated.
However, the former parliament speaker is “demanding that those who led to the resignation of António Costa urgently absolve him of all responsibilities.”
“The same ones who, in addition to overthrowing a democratic government, decisively contributed to the dissolution of a majority parliament that ensured stability in such unpredictable and serious times – times of war, times of danger from the far right, terrible times “, he said .
Ferro Rodrigues stated that he knows that it is not the intention of the PS to talk about justice, but he warned that he will not follow this orientation, “because we must ask for responsibility, because it is not acceptable that in the light of In such a serious situation crisis, the voice of the PGR is that of the union, because the silence of the President of the Supreme Court is understandable.”
“And because I saw and experienced a similar film twenty years ago,” he added.
Addressing the members of the PS National Committee, he declared: “I want to dedicate the last phase of my political life to defending, with humility, the cause of what is right: democracy.”
The President of the PS, Carlos César, left some comments on the actions of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, as he accepted the current situation “without blinking”. An allusion to the actions of the head of state that led to his decision to call early parliamentary elections on March 10.
Carlos César, also member of the Council of State, referred to the succession process of António Costa in the position of Secretary General of the PS, whose elections should be scheduled for December 15 and 16, and said that in the current political situation In this situation is imposed ‘unity’ among the socialists.
Source: DN
