The Prime Minister said on Thursday that he will wait until justice “fulfills its mission” in the investigation involving him and that it will soon become clear whether there will still be time to return to political life.
António Costa made these statements at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, at the entrance to the launch session of the reissue of the book “Portugal Amordaçado”, by Mário Soares, in which the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will also be present.
When asked whether, like Mário Soares, who was diagnosed with political death and later elected President of the Republic in 1986, he would again occupy a prominent position in public life, the leader of the executive his political future again at the conclusion of a judicial investigation involving him and currently taking place at the Supreme Court.
The Prime Minister began by pointing out that this circumstance that occurred with the first leader and founder of the PS “occurs many times in political life.” He then spoke about his current situation and his possible political future.
“In this regard, I have adopted the attitude that should be adopted when a problem of a legal nature is raised. And so let us simply wait for justice to fulfill its mission. If that is the case, we will soon see if there is still time for politics. Soon we will see if there is still time for politics”he declared.
In front of journalists, just hours before the President of the Republic signs the decree that will formally dismiss his government, António Costa said that his executive “will of course remain in office until there is a new one after the March 10 elections. ” .
“So we still have a lot of work and many days of work ahead of us. We will have time to say goodbye. There is no point in worrying today”he told reporters.
When asked if there were still many things to do by his supervisor, he replied that “there is certainly always more to do”, but noted that “there is still a lot to do until the end of March”.
“Today the subject is not me, but Doctor Mário Soares. So let’s leave that for the right moment.”he added.
António Costa will be one of the speakers at the presentation session of a revised and expanded edition of the book “Portugal Amordaçado — Depoimento sobre os anos do fascism”, by Mário Soares, on the day that the former President of the Republic would have turned 99 years old.
This session precedes, a few hours, the formalization of the resignation of the government, which will be limited to management actions, a decree that the President of the Republic has indicated that he will sign on Thursday evening.
Source: DN
