People invited to join the government in the future will be required to complete a questionnaire of 36 questions whose answers – to be given under oath – will enable the Prime Minister to judge whether or not he is able to name to nominate the President of the Republic.
The questionnaire will be the subject of a government decision to be published in the Diário da República, discussed and approved at the Council of Ministers yesterday. This was the government’s solution to prevent new cases, such as those leading to the recent firings of the Prime Minister’s Assistant Secretaries of State, Miguel Alves, the Secretary of State for Finance, Alexandra Reis, and the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Carla Alves. The latter resigned 24 hours after taking office, but is still in office and awaiting his replacement. Whoever takes his place will have to fill in the new questionnaire in advance.
According to the agency Lusa, the pre-verification questionnaire that guests must complete for ministers or secretaries of state covers activities over the past three years and extends to the household.
“Since the President of the Republic has his own responsibilities in the nomination, he may request that this information be discussed with the Prime Minister, if he understands.”
According to the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, the content of the nominees’ answers can be consulted by the President of the Republic (the one who formally nominates the members of the government, on the proposal of the Prime Minister) . “That is the goal. Since the President of the Republic has his own responsibilities in the nomination, he can request that this information be discussed with the Prime Minister, if he understands.”
The minister stressed that this “precedes a political tool, a questionnaire, which aims at a political assessment of each person’s capacity to be appointed to public office”. By this approved resolution, in the case of a Secretary of State, the minister with whom he will work directly, will send the answers to the questionnaire. “As far as ministers are concerned, address yourself to the Prime Minister. It will be to the Prime Minister that they” will send the answers. The obligatory pledge of honor “makes the candidate responsible to the Prime Minister and, of course, the Prime Minister, who is responsible for the political choices he presents to the President of the Republic. This is the accountability at stake.”
“It’s like Melhoral: it’s not good or bad.”
The minister explained that the questionnaire will be divided into five parts: professional activity; potential obstacles and conflicts of interest; equity; tax status; and criminal responsibilities.
Several parties in parliament have reacted to the decision of the Council of Ministers.
“It is not with solutions like this that we are going to restore citizens’ confidence in democracy and political power.”
Paula Santos, parliamentary leader of the PCP, noted that, “regardless of the range of questions” appearing in the questionnaire, the evaluation of potential members of the government should take into account the commitment of the nominees “in defense of the public “. interest, with the interest of the country, and not with the interests of economic groups”.
The head of the bank at BE, Pedro Filipe Soares, found the whole scenario “ridiculous”: “It’s like Melhoral: it’s neither good nor bad.” “All the cases that have happened have a responsible person and that responsible person is António Costa and it is not this new mechanism, which serves more to divert attention than anything else, that removes this responsibility,” he added.
“[É uma] solution that is a handful of nothing [e que] is only intended to absolve the government of responsibility.”
The PAN believed that “the mountain gave birth to a mouse”. “With solutions like this, we are not going to restore citizens’ confidence in democracy and political power,” said deputy Inês Sousa Real.
Through André Ventura, Chega regarded the approved measure as an “absolutely useless smoke screen”, while João Cotrim Figueiredo spoke for the liberal initiative of a “solution that is a handful of nothing” that “is only intended to remove the responsibility from the government “.
news corrected on 23.07 [são 36 e não 34 as perguntas do questionário]
Source: DN
