A request from the Liberal Initiative parliamentary group to the Constitutional Court (TC), which caused “bewilderment” among judges for its “inappropriate” content to suggest “deliberate checks”, led yesterday to the president of the Assembly of the Republic, the socialist Augusto Santos Silva, to determine that the next meeting of the leaders’ conference, scheduled in three weeks, the 30th, should discuss relations between the two sovereign bodies.
The liberals’ request asked two simple questions: how did the TC spend this year the allocation provided for in the State budget for the future Transparency entity (1.5 million euros); and how it intends to spend in 2023 the allocation also foreseen for the same entity (and also for the same amount, 1.5 million).
“Sure that this incident was due to a mistake, I am of course at your disposal, in the model that has always guided the relationship between the Assembly of the Republic and the Constitutional Court, to provide any clarifications deemed necessary.”
The TC did not like being questioned directly by IL. In a letter addressed to Augusto Santos Silva, on the 3rd, the president of the court, João Caupers, considered: “Your Excellency will understand the bewilderment caused in the first place by what, in the current circumstances, is being offered as a direct interpellation of a parliamentary group to the Constitutional Court, foreign to the requirements of the relationship between sovereign bodies Second, because of the required content – including information that is public – to resemble a quartermaster’s scrutiny, which is also considered inappropriate considered”. And he concluded: “Certainly that this incident was due to an oversight, of course I remain available to provide, in the model that has always guided the relationship between the Assembly of the Republic and the Constitutional Court, any clarifications deemed necessary “.
“The Liberal Initiative doesn’t give anyone blank checks. And it teaches lessons about the separation of powers to those who don’t even know how to distinguish it from the most basic exercise of democratic oversight.”
Rodrigo Saraiva, leader of the Liberal Initiative bench, responded to the letter from João Caupers, saying that the judges expressed “discomfort” with “the sound democratic scrutiny exercised by the deputies”, as well as “incomprehensible that they are not available to send documents to the Assembly of the Republic as simple”. “The Liberal Initiative does not give blank checks to anyone. And it teaches lessons about the separation of powers to those who don’t even know how to distinguish it from the most basic exercise of democratic oversight. The TC is not above oversight and an entity whose purpose is has to guarantee transparency in the exercise of public office, one cannot be born injured by opacity”, he opined.
On Tuesday, the TC announced that it justifies the provisional installation of the Entity for Transparency (ET) in a space to be rented in Coimbra, while the restoration of the final building (Palácio dos Grilos) has not yet been completed. He also promised that ET’s board will be appointed by the end of the year.
This new body to control the wealth of politicians was created in 2019, but has not left the drawing board since then. The chosen space, an 18th-century palace listed as a World Heritage Site, requires “considerable intervention” according to the TC.
Source: DN
