There is discomfort in the PS bench with the “Miguel Alves case” – the prime minister’s new deputy secretary of state charged in matters related to his performance as mayor of Caminha. The general order is silence, with full priority being given to the discussion in the OE2023 specialty, but Deputy Sheriff Alexandra Leitão couldn’t resist publicly expressing her surprise.
He did this on Sunday in the CNN-Portugal program “Principio da Incerteza”, where he discusses political news weekly with António Lobo Xavier and José Pacheco Pereira. For the deputy – deputy secretary of state and education in the first Costa government (2015-2019) and minister of public administration in the second (2019-2022) – the matter is “a bit incomprehensible”.
“I find this whole affair a bit incomprehensible and I’m sorry to say it.”
Suggesting that Miguel Alves should leave the government, even in order to better defend himself in justice, he recalled, although without naming names, the case of the three secretaries of state – Fernando Rocha Andrade, João Vasconcelos and Jorge Costa Oliveira, – who , in 2018, resigned as soon as they were appointed as defendants for allegedly accepting travel to Euro 2016, in France, offered by Galp. “The rule was: they were formed arguidos, they leave the government.” And further “in the making of list [de candidatos a deputados] both in 2019 and in 2022 there were people who were excluded because they were defendants”. If this criterion is not followed now, then there will be “an unnecessary vulnerability” in the government – an opinion that has supporters on the PS “I think that everything about this case is a bit incomprehensible and I’m sorry to say it.”
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This Monday, the PSD again insisted on the idea that Miguel Alves should go to parliament to clarify the situation. “It is a disrespect that this clarification has not yet been made institutional and public. We are talking about a member of the government who works directly with the Prime Minister,” said Deputy João Montenegro. Chega defended the same via André Ventura.
The “Miguel Alves case” was revealed on October 26. O Public reported that in 2020 the Chamber of Caminha, chaired by Miguel Alves, has made a “dubious advance” of 300 thousand euros to the promoter of the construction of a cross-border exhibition center in the municipality – which will be investigated by the MP. according to Observer, Alves will also be charged in the framework of “Operação Teia”, the investigation into the company of Manuela Couto and her husband, Joaquim Couto, a former historical mayor of the PS in Santo Tirso. Miguel Alves will “be charged with the alleged practice of felony misdemeanor for allegedly favoring a company owned by Manuela Couto in the award of several contracts”.
In a JN/TSF interview, Miguel Alves defended himself by saying that he has already made himself available to the MP for any clarification. In addition, he added, “this case exists” because he is António Costa’s secretary of state, because “there is a certain prejudice against those who work outside that natural court” and also because “there is a certain prejudice against Caminha”.
Source: DN
