Former Social Democratic minister Miguel Poiares Maduro argues that the continuity of the Prime Minister’s office could be “in question” if he is confirmed to have interfered with the powers of the Bank of Portugal.
“In an evolved democracy – just look at what’s happened in the UK and others [países] – if it is confirmed that a Prime Minister has interfered with the powers of an independent authority, that could be reason enough to question the continuation of his duties,” the former Social Democratic leader said in an interview with Público and the Radio Renaissance published today.
The former Deputy Minister for Regional Development of the government led by Pedro Passos Coelho comments in the interview on the controversy surrounding allegations that the former governor of the Banco de Portugal, Carlos Costa, made to the current prime minister that he so tried to interfere in his activities. that he would not remove Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos from BIC. This case prompted the PSD to send a request for clarification to the prime minister and to allow a parliamentary committee of inquiry to depend on the answers.
Commenting on the former governor’s “allegations to that effect”, Poiares Maduro concludes: “There are circumstances which, from my point of view, should lead to an interruption of the legislature”.
“If the Prime Minister thinks the laws are inadequate to resolve the affairs of Isabel dos Santos or anyone else, change the law. But he does not have to negotiate agreements under a cover of secrecy, regardless of whether the objectives are in any way perverse in some way. But it will be perverse in the functioning of our democracy and our state,” he argues.
When asked if António Costa has “the same conception” of “absolute power” as José Sócrates, the university professor answers in the affirmative, since it is this attitude of the current Prime Minister that leads him to question the independence of entities that are independent for one reason: the are unlikely to make decisions on certain matters because of political opportunity”.
However, the former Social Democratic leader and coordinator of the party’s current constitutional reform project admits that “the prime minister is often, perhaps even imbued with the best reasons, but that has an absolutely perverse effect on the functioning of our democratic system”.
In the interview with Público and RR, Poiares Maduro criticizes the trip of the President of the Republic, the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister to Qatar to watch the matches of the first phase of the World Cup.
“I am sorry,” the former minister assumes, claiming that “Portugal should have diplomatic relations with all states, including Qatar and many other autocracies, but it does not have to be an accomplice”. “And their heads of state and government need not be complicit in this strategy of strengthening capital and promoting an autocratic regime by associating themselves with a sporting event of this nature. This has nothing to do with diplomatic relations. in this context, is the head of government, the Portuguese head of state, still going to the event?, he asks.
Poiares Maduro, who coordinated the project to revise the fundamental law of the PSD, also argues that “the constitution cannot allow parliament to decide what is the travel agenda of the president of the republic”.
For the former minister, the provision of the fundamental law is “a brake rule for situations in which the president can abuse the powers he also has in the field of external relations to interfere with the powers of other sovereign bodies”.
“I find it very strange that this is turning into a question of whether parliament should authorize” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s trip to Qatar.
With regard to the PSD, the former leader states that his role is “to contribute intellectually to the party with ideas”, and thus remain active. “I don’t have any expectation or foresight to perform any other kind of job,” he adds.
Source: DN
