The Prime Minister and the President of the Republic continue to exchange messages in public space about the new “survey prior to the integration of new members into the government”. This new procedure – already made legal through a message published in the “Diário da República” on the 13th – was first mentioned by António Costa on the 5th, during the parliamentary debate on the motion of censure of the government by the IL. , and since then the Chief Executive and Marcelo have spent time publicly exchanging views on the matter. The new questionnaire, remember, was the second solution Costa proposed to the PR – because the first failed because of it.
Now the problem is who is covered by the questionnaire. Legally, it will only apply to future rulers (“new members of the government”). On Tuesday, however, the president of the republic suggested that it should, in fact, cover those already in the executive branch.
Marcelo stated that “these questions are an anticipation of the questions the media will be asking sooner or later” and that “therefore it is a pure theory that this does not apply to those who were already in office”.
As he argued, “when there is suddenly news” about a member of the government, “it doesn’t matter whether he was asked or not – from then on he was asked”. “Therefore, that debate that I saw that from now on we will only legally demand this clarification, no, the clarification is the clarification that will be permanently controlled by public opinion,” he stressed.
When asked if he will read the guests’ responses to secretaries of state or ministers, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied that if in doubt, he can ask to “verify what has been found about this” in the questionnaire provided under vow. “But to control is not to control people from the point of view of the police. It is in their interest, in the interest of those who elect them and in the interest of Portuguese democracy. Memory to what in a few days, a few months to reconstruct, a few years could be a problem,” he insisted.
This Wednesday, the prime minister pointed out that members of the current government have already submitted declarations of interests and incomes to the Constitutional Court and parliament.
There’s no need
Speaking to journalists after attending a session in Lisbon on the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) related to the social security digitization program, António Costa was questioned about the PR’s suggestion that current government officials in the to include a questionnaire. According to him, this is unnecessary and rightly so: “The questionnaire is an instrument that has been created so that I myself, when I elect ministers, and the ministers, when they elect state secretaries, have more information well structured in the evaluation of the choices. . current members of the government, like myself, we have already presented the statements that are syndicated by outside entities, some in the Constitutional Court, others in the Assembly of the Republic “, he stressed.
Therefore, according to the head of government, the current heads of government have declaratively “already fulfilled these obligations”. “The statements will be presented and if there is a problem, the Constitutional Court, the Public Prosecution Service or the Assembly of the Republic will take appropriate action.”
The questionnaire consists of 36 questions about the respective criminal, fiscal, patrimonial situation and possible conflicts of interest of the invited person in the government.
Source: DN
