The president of the republic on Thursday said that the availability of finance minister Fernando Medina to be heard about the investigations that led to searches at the Lisbon city council “is a good example”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took this position in statements to TVI/CNN Portugal at the end of a visit to Hospital de São José in Lisbon, which was not on his public agenda and which was not disclosed to the media at large.
“I don’t like to comment on specific cases, but I will say that in itself the idea and the gesture of taking the initiative to clarify, to make yourself available, who really understands that a case of which they were not aware, should be clarified, but that increases public attention, I think it is a good example”said the head of state.
“That’s right. I had just said this morning that, as is clear, people are sensitive to the need to provide clarity, to themselves, to the executive branch of which they are part and to democracy and to democratic practice”he added.
When asked if he does not consider Fernando Medina a negative political weight, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied: “Well, I’m just saying that I think the course of action corresponds to that model that I think should exist, which is: the person feels there is a reason to clarify what can be clarified, and what cannot be clarified in order to be clarified in order to clarify. I think that makes perfect sense”.
According to TVI/CNN Portugal, the president of the republic, together with the interior minister and the general commander of the GNR, visited a wounded GNR soldier in the Hospital de São José.
Finance Minister Fernando Medina announced this Thursday that he had asked the Attorney General of the Republic to be heard in the context of the ongoing investigation that led to searches at the Lisbon City Council on Tuesday, to “provide all clarifications which the public prosecutor deems necessary”.
“I am the main person interested in doing it”said the former mayor of Lisbon, who said he was ‘absolutely’ unaware of this investigation.
At a press conference at the Ministry of Finance in Lisbon, Fernando Medina defended that it is his “duty to contribute to clarifying the situation”.
TVI/CNN Portugal reported on Wednesday night that judicial police carried out searches at the Lisbon City Council on Tuesday for “suspicions of corruption, economic participation in business and counterfeiting” in a “service agreement signed in 2015” by the then president of the municipality, Fernando Medina, the current Minister of Finance.
The Lisbon City Council confirmed to the Lusa office that searches were being carried out at the municipality’s Urban Planning Department, but sent further clarifications to the judicial authorities.
Source: DN
