The constitution says that the prime minister is the one who chooses the members of the government, but the one who appoints them is the president of the republic. It is a “substantial” and not a “formal” power, as the constitutionalist Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa once theorized in his law books.
If the constitutionalist Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa thinks that this privilege of appointing rulers is “substantial”, the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has acted accordingly. History proves, since the beginning of his first term, in 2016, that the head of state has never failed to say what he thinks when a member of the government becomes, in his opinion, a “negative political weight” (the phrase he used Secretary of State for Agriculture to ‘kill’ Carla Alves).
Marcelo has sometimes done this in consultation with the Prime Minister, but usually without his consent and even completely against him. It was, again, what happened with the last firing, that of Carla Alves, a situation where Costa was completely brutally knocked out of the picture.
Currently, there are three ministers who seem to deserve special attention from the tenant of Belém: the defense minister, because of the scandals surrounding the Military Hospital; Fernando Medina, due to the ongoing investigation of the Lisbon City Council; and the Cohesion Minister, Ana Abrunhosa, who has already warned: “A real shame, for you it will be the day when I discover that the implementation rate of European funds is not what I think it should be.”
Constance Urbano de Sousa In June 2017, after the fires in Pedrógão, which killed 66 people, Constança Urbano de Sousa wanted to resign as interior minister. Costa refused. However, it did not resist a second wave, in October (another 50 dead). Everything was agreed between the PR and the prime minister before the minister’s departure. Later, however, Marcelo spoke for a renovation. The next day (October 18) MAI departed. Costa didn’t like how Marcelo took credit for the dismissal. Living together shook.
Edward Cabrita left the position of Home Secretary in December 2021, when allegations arose regarding the fatal run-over of an employee by the official car in which he was traveling (June of that year). But at least since December 2020, the President of the Republic proposes his resignation, due to another case, the violent death of a Ukrainian in SEF facilities, in Portela.
Martha Tempido The health minister withstood the extremely violent impact of the covid-19 pandemic. What you might not have expected was the Obstetric Urgencies crisis that hit the SNS in the summer of last year. Word began to come from Belém that Marta Temido was in decline, with huge potential for conflict in the new position of CEO of the SNS. On August 29, a pregnant woman died in an ambulance in Lisbon. Marta Temido resigned the next morning.
Joao Gomes Cravinho It was due to PR pressure that João Gomes Cravinho currently moved from Defense Minister (2019-2022) to MNO. At issue was Cravinho’s failure to inform him (nor the prime minister) of the case of alleged diamond trafficking by Portuguese military personnel in the Central African Republic. Marcelo saw the bad atmosphere between Cravinho and the military leaders and suggested to the Prime Minister that he be removed from Defense. Now the PR is following the scandals surrounding the Military Hospital.
Rita Marquis she didn’t quit as Secretary of State for Tourism because of PR. Rather, it was because he lost the confidence of his minister, António Costa Silva (Economy). It was later revealed that he was going to run a private company in the sector for which he had signed tax breaks. There was no one who did not say that he committed a flagrant illegality. On the 12th, in the afternoon, PR joined this chorus. At night, Rita Marques announced she would no longer be working for the company.
Alexandra Reis On 2 December, Alexandra Reis took office as State Secretary for Finance. It was later announced that he had received half a million in compensation from TAP at the beginning of this year. Throughout the process, PR did not hesitate to suggest that he return the money (“it was nice that he did”). And he insisted on clarifying the situation. On the 27th, Alexandra Reis resigned, at the request of the Minister of Finance. It took 25 days.
Carla Alves lasted one day in office (Secretary of State for Agriculture, from the 5th to the 6th of this month). As soon as she took office, it was learned that she had seized a bank account she held with her husband, accused of corruption. On the 6th, Costa spent an afternoon defending that Carla Alves didn’t have to leave: “Am I going to fire someone because the husband is being accused?” At the end of the afternoon, the PR said the obvious: it was a “negative political weight”. Less than an hour later, Carla Alves resigned.
Source: DN
