The president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Saturday that he had no interest in the law on incompatibilities being passed “on the fly” by parliament, but felt that “it needs to be thought through”.
At the end of the inauguration of the headquarters of the Council of the Portuguese Diaspora, in Cascais, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was questioned by journalists about the news of investigations into suspicious cases in municipal and parish councils.
“I’ve already said this and I’ve repeated what I said when people don’t understand why I suggested re-discussing the topic. [lei das incompatibilidades] in parliament to see if the solution of the law is the best solution or if it is possible to go even further”started answering.
The president of the republic made it clear in that debate that “he was not that interested in doing it quickly” because “it is better to do it well and not quickly than to do it quickly and badly”.
“It is now better to do than not to. No one loses a reflection,” he defended.
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, when public opinion sees this issue as “an immediate concern in the image it has of politicians”, those who have political responsibilities, when linked to “the popular reality”, should be sensitive “to this type of reflection”.
“Whatever conclusion we draw, we cannot say: look, this is for every day, a day later. This is not the time, I admit it, now that the reflection has to happen, it has to happen,” insisted.
Just today, the president of the Liberal Initiative, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, had defended in statements to the Lusa agency that the president of the republic would be the first to “demand from himself” and impose on the government the use of powers “with a lot of more rigor”, criticizing the request to parliament “in a hurry” to change the law on incompatibilities.
On Friday, in a debate in parliament, PS and PSD refused to “hurry” change the law on incompatibilities or consider “specific cases”, in a discussion that was also marked by some criticism of the president of the republic, including that of the Social Democrats.
Last week, the President of the Republic formally asked parliament to review this legal regime if the Assembly of the Republic “deems such reflection relevant and necessary”.
Later, the head of state urged the parties to find “a clear solution in law and in politics” to the law on incompatibilities of holders of public office, in order to put an end to the “changes” in the legislation.
Source: DN
