The leader of Chega welcomed this Thursday “the clarification” of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) regarding Operation Influencer and the autonomous investigation into the Prime Minister, while the PAN considered that Lucília Gago’s clarifications did not comply what was needed.
André Ventura and Inês Sousa Real responded in parliament to the statements of Lucília Gago, on the sidelines of a conference on domestic violence at the headquarters of the Judicial Police (PJ), in which the PGR assured that it did not feel responsible for the dismissal of the Prime Minister, saying that the last paragraph of the November 7 statement on the investigation into António Costa was due to a “need for transparency”.
André Ventura pointed out as a “positive point” of the PGR message that it clarified that “the Public Prosecutor’s Office could never be associated with the idea of protecting the Prime Minister or any member of the government”.
“And he clarified far better than any party the reasons why he decided to say that: because there were in fact suspicions about the Prime Minister – whether they turned out to be true or not – and they had to go to the Supreme Court. [Tribunal de Justiça]. It was not possible for the Public Prosecution Service to hide it”he said.
On the other hand, the Chega leader agreed with the PGR’s interpretation that “it is not the fault of the Public Prosecution Service that the government resigned.”
Also in statements in parliament, the sole deputy of the PAN, Inês Sousa Real, expressed a very different opinion on the subject and considered that the statements of the PGR “lower than what the Portuguese expected”.
“More than justifying the non-interference or the intention to overthrow the government, it would be important to explain whether or not the material error that occurred in the process is due to the lack of resources of the Public Prosecution Service.”said the deputy, referring to the alleged name exchange in the MP’s decision between António Costa, Prime Minister, and António Costa Silva, Minister of Economy.
The PAN delegate emphasized that the party, in a specialized context in the state budget, presented proposals to strengthen resources in departments of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and therefore she considered it essential that Lucília Gago had referred to this subject.
On the other hand, the sole deputy of the PAN argued that “in complex processes” such as Operation Influencer, “the judiciary and not only the political power must get used to direct communication with citizens,” as “mere written communication” is insufficient. of the Public Prosecution Service.
On Thursday, Lucília Gago rejected any responsibility of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Prime Minister’s resignation. “The Public Prosecution Service, the Public Prosecution Service, investigates, after news of the commission of acts, what it must investigate. What follows from the law is what it must investigate.”he said.
Asked about the last paragraph of the PGR’s statement on November 7 regarding Operation Influencer and which referred to the existence of an autonomous investigation into the Prime Minister, António Costa, at the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court, Lucília Gago emphasized that this should be included in the released note.
“This paragraph is a paragraph that transparently states what was at stake in the context of the ongoing investigation. There is a need for transparency, for information about the ongoing investigation and should therefore of course be said under the heading It is a pity that, because this is not included in the statement, it can be said that a segment of the utmost importance was wrongly concealed.”he said.
Source: DN
