This Friday, the PSD chairman accused the prime minister of “political cowardice” and “losing authority” by remaining silent on the controversy over the legal basis for firings at TAP, without committing to a motion of censure.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a luncheon as part of the ‘Sentir Portugal’ initiative in Sintra, Luís Montenegro lamented that António Costa had not yet clarified to the Portuguese the contradictions between various ministers of his government, one day to which the Prime Minister Minister had a public agenda.
“Either you’re ashamed of what’s going on – and if that’s the case, it’s better to admit it than put it off for much longer – or you’re committed and need to take responsibility, you can’t do like you don’t.” t nothing happens on your side in your government”defended.
Luís Montenegro believed that “it is becoming a situation of a government that has no amendment”, but questioned whether the PSD would go through with a vote of censure to the executive, and he did not commit to this parliamentary instrument to use. .
“The government has been censored by the PSD since day one, now a conclusion is actually starting to be drawn from the Prime Minister’s inability to bring order to the house, especially with this silence”he claimed.
Asked about the fact that Costa had mentioned possible consequences for the end of the parliamentary inquiry, Montenegro thought it was unthinkable to wait so long for the Portuguese to understand “how a public company like TAP was run and how the government intervened”.
“If the prime minister thinks there is still no case to speak on, it can only mean political cowardice, fear and lack of leadership and that is very bad for him, for the government and for the country.”considered.
for Montenegro, “every minute of silence means loss of authority, loss of credibility and loss of leadership at the head of government”.
The PSD chairman returned to the topic that has been on the political agenda since Wednesday and accused the government of being “without king or roque”: “No two members of the government say the same thing except when they are silent, that is the only time they come together”ironed.
Montenegro recalled that in a statement, through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the government initially refused to respond to a request from the PSD to give parliament the legal basis for TAP, shielding itself from protecting the public interest, and later” , the Minister of Finance came to say that there was no opinion.
“Does the Prime Minister accept that the Parliamentary Affairs Minister says one thing, the Finance Minister another, the Infrastructure Minister blows his whistle and the Presidency confirms the former? This is utter confusion”criticized.
Asked by journalists about the consequences the PSD will draw from all this criticism, Montenegro replied that the party “has been a leader” in discovering the truth “it hurts who hurts”, paraphrasing a sentence by the prime minister about it parliamentary inquiry into TAP.
And when asked what he would do with the four ministers who he says would have “reduced political authority” if he were head of government, he replied: “If it were a government led by me, we would not have this situation.” achieve. absolutely certain”.
“One day the government will become a club of PS militants who, instead of running the country, will only represent the interests of the party”orphan.
Luís Montenegro ends this Friday the eighth edition of the ‘Sentir Portugal’ initiative – the commitment he made to spend one week a month in each district of the country – dedicated this week to the district of Lisbon.
After a visit to a market in Queluz and the police station of Agualva-Cacém, the day ends with a dinner with militants in Malveira, in the municipality of Mafra.
Source: DN
