“I think he is not qualified enough to fully perform government functions as he has doubts about him that he has not been able to clarify,” he said. Luís Montenegro, in Caminha, supported the council chaired by Miguel Alves before going to the executive.
The PSD leader noted that “the Prime Minister must make this assessment”, although he anticipated that this will not be a problem for António Costa “because he has already said that he fully trusts the Secretary of State”.
Speaking to journalists in the municipality of Caminha, in the Viana do Castelo district, as part of the Sentir Portugal initiative, Luís Montenegro said the PSD is “mainly interested in the circumstances under which this situation has taken place”, as it “a strange situation”, with “very questionable contours”.
“No one is here with the intention of prosecuting anyone or anything. What we want is for the members of the government to have full political authority to carry out their mission. I think that’s also the interest the prime minister should serve,” he said. he.
The PSD chairman referred to the hearing request that the PSD announced it will hand over to the Assembly of the Republic so that Miguel Alves can be heard “as soon as possible” by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees.
“What interests me as the leader of the PSD, the largest opposition party, is that there is full clarification of the conditions under which the Secretary of State is, can or may be working in the government, for the prestige and governance conditions of the executive itself. No one other than the members of the government, the Prime Minister and the person in question have to judge whether or not there is a disturbance that could endanger the very existence of the government. Undersecretary of State in office”, said the Social Democratic leader.
At stake is a preliminary non-housing lease, approved in 2020, which provided for the construction of a Transfrontier Exhibition Center (CET) at Quinta do Corgo, in Vilarelho, but the project was rendered unfeasible by the land’s heirs who went to court because they disagreed with the proposed sale price.
Under that contract, when the CET was built and the chamber granted the occupancy permit, the municipality committed to rent the space for 25 years. At the end of that period, the municipality could exercise its purchase preference.
Público reported in the October 26 edition that the municipality of Caminha had made a “dubious advance” of 300,000 euros for the project in question, authorized by the now deputy secretary of state to the prime minister, when he headed the municipality.
On Sunday, in an interview with Jornal de Notícias and TSF, Miguel Alves expressed his confidence in the legality of the process and explained why he had not responded publicly to this controversy before.
“And my first comment was not here, it was with the PGR, through a letter, where I added my availability to provide my clarification at any time on the investigation that was opened about this situation. I can understand my option, a legal , transparent option that defends the public interest in Caminha and also in the country,” said Miguel Alves.
The agreement stated that the 300 thousand euros advanced by the college of mayor and aldermen, then headed by Miguel Alves, would be because of the twenty-fifth year rent.
For Luís Montenegro, Miguel Alves’ statement was “a long time coming, more than a week after the matter became public.
The PSD leader accused the prime minister’s deputy foreign minister of “victimizing himself and almost deceiving the country into thinking that he was only asked this question because he had gone from Caminha to Lisbon, as if he hadn’t already come from Lisbon “to Caminha”.
Asked about the fact that Miguel Alves is accused in other cases and has been appointed to the position he holds, he said that he would not “interfere” in matters concerning the PS.
“Today there is a Prime Minister who on other occasions, precisely because members of the government were made arguidos, left the government. Government who left the government because they were accused. This is a fact, despite the fact that at the time they left, there was no conviction of guilt attached to their behavior from PS, Alexandra Leitão who took the same position “with total frontality”.
“This is beyond dispute. There is another criterion for members of the government, led by the same person. But this is a matter for the prime minister,” he said.
He explained that the fact that someone is declared a defendant “does not mean that there is guilt”, which guarantees that he will in no case violate this principle, but that it is true in terms of “pure and hard politics”. that a first-class minister has on one occasion authorized or promoted the departure of secretaries of state who had been appointed accused, and in this case he not only proposed the appointment of this secretary of state, when he was already an accused, but now it is are known to be a suspect in several cases”.
“What matters to the PSD is in particular the explanation for this case,” he stressed, adding that he did not have enough elements to conclude that it was an illegal contract.
For Montenegro, the statement should be given “in two dimensions”, one national and the other local, noting that an extraordinary session of the city council was also requested.
Source: DN
