Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes denied on Friday that she had prior knowledge of the involvement of Carla Alves, the outgoing secretary of state, in legal proceedings.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Food reports that the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes, was not aware of any involvement of Carla Alves in legal proceedings,” the statement read.
The clarification follows the news from Público that the now resigned Foreign Minister Carla Alves allegedly informed the Agriculture Minister about the joint accounts with her husband, the former mayor of Vinhais Américo Pereira, who has been arrested by the court.
The Liberal Initiative (IL) meanwhile announced that it “urgently” wants to hear in parliament the responsible for the agricultural portfolio, Maria do Céu Antunes, about yet another controversy in the government, which resulted in a new resignation.
Rui Rocha, candidate for the leadership of the party, believes that this is “another episode that shows the demotion of the government at an accelerated pace”.
Given “today’s news” that “points to evidence that the Secretary of Agriculture was aware of the terms” leading up to Carla Alves’ resignation, IL is asking for a hearing with the Secretary of Agriculture.
“The explanations we need are the degree of knowledge, for it seems impossible to us to accept that, knowing the circumstances in which the Secretary of State found herself, she herself did not make a political assessment of the impossibility of an appointment under those circumstances.justified IL deputy Rui Rocha. “It becomes very fragile in this process”.
According to Público, before taking office on Wednesday, Carla Alves, as Secretary of State for Agriculture, informed the person responsible for her custody, Maria do Céu Antunes, of the legal proceedings involving her husband, the former socialist president of the Chamber of Vineyards. Americo Pereira is the subject of a lawsuit for suspected crimes of corruption, economic participation in business and misdemeanor, the prosecution said.
Maria do Céu Antunes was approached by the newspaper about whether she had disclosed the information to the head of government and the Ministry of Agriculture said it would not comment further on the matter. The Prime Minister’s office did not answer until late Thursday whether António Costa was aware of the matter before suggesting Carla Alves’ name to Belém.
On Thursday evening, the official told SIC Notícias that “everything is clear” and that what she had to say she had already said in her own office.
Just over 24 hours after being sworn in as Secretary of State for Agriculture, Carla Alves tendered her resignation following the news in Correio da Manhã of the bank accounts shared with her husband who had allegedly been arrested.
“The Secretary of State for Agriculture, Carla Alves, gave a presentation this afternoon [quinta-feira] his resignation on the grounds that he did not have the political and personal conditions to take up office. The resignation was accepted immediately,” says a note from the Agriculture Minister’s office sent to editors. The resignation was “accepted immediately”.
Shortly before the resignation of Carla Alves, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, publicly stated that the case politically weakened the Secretary of State and the government. “It’s a negative political weight,” Marcelo said.
The resignation of Carla Alves comes after that of former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, after TAP’s controversial compensation of 500,000 euros to Alexandra Reis, who, at the request of the Minister of Finance, announced the resignation of the Secretary of State for Finance.
Born in Bragança, Carla Alves Pereira is 52 years old and holds a degree in zootechnical engineering from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. She has been regional director of Agriculture and Fisheries in the North since December 2018, before that she was director of the Vinhais Biological Park since 2007. Carla Alves has been part of the technical staff of the municipality of Vinhais since 2000.
Source: DN
