In his speech at the Political Assembly of the European People’s Party, which runs until Friday in Lisbon, Luís Montenegro made a point of referring to the “controversy of recent days in Portugal”, explaining that António Costa was accused by the former central bank governor of “political interference” and “attempt against the independence” of the Bank of Portugal.
“The prime minister has limited himself to denying this interference and referring this dispute to a judicial process. But there is the political problem that we don’t have to wait for the court.”defended.
First, he argued, it is necessary to know “whether or not there was interference”.
On the other hand, and in a message he said was addressed to European institutions, Luís Montenegro also alluded to another episode mentioned in the same book about Carlos Costa’s mandates, about the sale of Banif.
“The former governor complains with documentation that in 2015, given the ongoing process of selling a banking institution, he was already in dialogue with the European institutions with a view to winding up that institution,” he reported.
The president of the PSD added that in Europe, according to the book, these moves “caused the bank’s value to drop abruptly and it was almost offered rather than sold.”
“In the European institutions there must be transparency and cooperation so that we all know the truth and it does not happen that heads of government have one truth when they speak within national territories and another when they go to Frankfurt and Brussels,” he called. .
In addition to PSD President Luís Montenegro, PPE President Manfred Weber, Spanish PP Leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo and CDS-PP President Nuno Melo spoke at the opening of the Political Assembly .
On Tuesday, at the presentation of the book “O Governador”, by Observer journalist Luís Rosa, Carlos Costa accused the Prime Minister of political interference in Banco de Portugal, the institution he led between 2010 and 2020.
Carlos Costa said António Costa had “contacted him” on his mobile phone in the afternoon of April 12, 2016, following a meeting the former governor had with Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, with her partner Fernando Telles, while shareholders of BIC, and with the director of the supervisory department of the central bank Carlos Albuquerque.
“A phone call in which he told me that the daughter of the president of a country friendly to Portugal cannot be treated badly,” he said.
According to the book “o Governador”, this sentence by António Costa would be a request to Banco de Portugal not to remove Isabel dos Santos from BIC’s administration.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, has accused Carlos Costa of making “false and abusive” statements on several occasions and has already announced that he will sue the former governor of Banco de Portugal for violating his honour.
On Wednesday, the president of the republic did not directly comment on the altercation between Carlos Costa and António Costa, but believed Portuguese authorities acted in the name of the “national interest” as the government advanced with a diploma to challenge BPI statutes (which led to the departure of Isabel dos Santos), later established by you.
On the sale process of Banif, former PSD leader and political commentator Marques Mendes has already advised the Public Prosecution Service to read the book “O Governador” as opening an investigation is warranted.
Source: DN
