Former PSD leader Rui Rio argued in an interview published on Thursday in Jornal de Notícias that the Republic’s Attorney General “must leave her position”, following the Influencer operation, which led to the Prime Minister’s resignation.
The Operation Influencer trial is linked to the lithium, green hydrogen and Sines data center companies and is based on suspicion of crimes, active and passive corruption of political office holders and influence peddling.
The searches and arrests carried out on November 7 prompted the PGR to release a statement revealing that the Prime Minister is the target of an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) at the Supreme Court, motivating António Costa to resign .
In an interview published today in Jornal de Notícias (JN), the former president of the PSD believed that the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Lucília Gago, “had to leave her position”, emphasizing that she was “not clear” in her positions. the information it has provided to the country.
“Ms PGR was not only unclear, but even admitted that she ‘didn’t feel responsible for anything’. Worse still, he opened a case against lawyer Maria José Fernandes, who bravely dared to express her critical opinion about the performance of the MP. Even more seriously, the MP is known to have kept a member of the government under wiretapping for four years. (…). And for me it is clear that he must leave his position, but in today’s Portugal his stay will not be so unusual,” he said.
According to Rui Rio, given that paragraph of the PGR, the Prime Minister had no choice but to resign.
“In practice, the Prime Minister was dismissed by the PGR. And the same PGR is not even aware of the very serious damage done to the country, while it was reported around the world that the Portuguese Prime Minister resigned due to suspicions of corruption.” , he emphasized.
According to the former PSD leader, the investigation weakens the PS, but “much more” the Public Prosecution Service.
“Even if you consider that the President of the Republic was hasty – and I am of this opinion – the origin of the crisis lies with the Member of Parliament, who does what he wants and how he wants, and who does not even deign to offer an explanation give to the Portuguese. An arrogance that is typical of the absolute powers, and that is how the MP thinks he is not accountable for anything to anyone other than himself (…),” he said.
When asked whether the judiciary acted from political motives and whether there is judicial interference in politics, Rui Rio says that justice and parliamentarian are not exactly the same.
“Based on what we see, what I know and the experience I have, I believe that, as far as the MP and PJ are concerned, this is happening. Why is it that their actions towards politicians are always followed on TV? Why did they search my house only because of an issue that has been quietly accepted by all parties for 40 years?,” he said.
Case of the twins: ‘A situation that enormously weakens the head of state’
Rui Rio’s residence and the PSD’s national headquarters were the target of searches in July due to suspicions of embezzlement and abuse of power in the use of public funds in a politically partisan context.
In the interview, Rui Rio states that the MP not only has a duty to be autonomous, but also a legal and ethical duty to investigate anything that could raise suspicions. “What is very wrong is the way it is done and, often, the lack of knowledge that investigators reveal about the cases in question,” he pointed out.
Regarding the case of the Brazilian twins treated at the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon, and when asked whether this undermined the credibility of the President of the Republic: Rui Rio believed that “the majority of Portuguese are convinced that PR is primarily responsible for the wedge that has led to unnecessary cronyism”.
“In a democracy, this is a situation that greatly weakens the head of state, in other words it is a very delicate issue,” he stressed.
The former PSD leader also said in the interview with JN that “Chega’s growth is a consequence of the parties’ inability to seriously solve the country’s problems.”
In the interview, Rui Rio declined to answer questions regarding the PSD.
Source: DN
