The Prime Minister, António Costa, announced tonight that he will not accept the resignation of Infrastructure Minister João Galamba.
The justification was the fact that he believed that the minister was not concealing any documentation from the parliamentary committee of inquiry into TAP and that he maintained “political confidence” in his ruler.
“I have no evidence for that [João Galamba] tried to hide information from the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, said António Costa at the door of the São Bento Palace, emphasizing: “It was he who made it available to the Commission of Inquiry.”
Also, “If a member of a government loses political confidence, he should be removed,” which is not what happened.
Costa continues that, regarding the actions of the authorities regarding the recovery of the computer improperly taken from the ministry premises by Galamba’s former adviser, all “acted in accordance with their powers”.
The head of government reiterated that “no one from the government” had ordered SIS to fetch the said computer.
For Costa, “it’s not personally attributable [a João Galamba] every failure”.
“This regrettable incident, regrettable in every way, is solely attributable to someone else,” he said.
As for what happened, “it’s up to me, as prime minister, to apologize to the citizens”.
For the rest: “I will continue to rely on João Galamba”. “I am sorry to disappoint whom I am going to disappoint,” he continued, referring to all those who expected Galamba to leave the government.
Source: DN
