“I continue to favor institutional stability. The Portuguese need not be afraid,” summarized Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in his statement to the country tonight, after strong criticism of António Costa and João Galamba.
The President of the Republic began by warning that he would leave “two words, one about the past and one about the future”.
And he left several strong messages to the government, explaining why, in his opinion, João Galamba should have been fired as Infrastructure Minister.
“A ruler knows that by accepting to be one, he accepts responsibility for what he does and what he does not do.
How can a minister not be responsible for an associate he has chosen to join his close team to guard a file as sensitive as TAP’s?”
“How can a minister not be responsible for the scandalous, unacceptable and deplorable situations of this collaborator – and words are not mine – which led the state to act as a more protective service, which, as the name implies, at least serving the country and not the government,” he stressed, referring to the controversial performance of the SIS in this episode of the computer seized by Galamba’s former deputy.
“Political and administrative responsibility is essential for the Portuguese to trust those who represent them. It is not enough to apologize. It is an objective reality,” Marcelo added, assuming: “That’s why I understood that the minister was acquitted and that a new difference of opinion with the prime minister. You could always hit with needles in the past, not this time. That was a pity.”
Warning: ‘I will have to pay even more attention and intervene in the future’
Looking ahead, Marcelo left dire warnings to the Prime Minister and the government, promising even more vigilance and intervention: “Should I draw immediate or long-term conclusions? Yes. Two conclusions can be drawn that complement each other,” Marcelo stressed.
The first is that “taking all this into account, I still prefer to ensure institutional stability,” the president defended. “The Portuguese will refrain from these surprises,” he stressed, assuring that on the presidential side “there will be no desire to add problems to those that the Portuguese already have.”
The second conclusion is that he “will have to pay even more attention to the question of the political and administrative responsibility of those in charge. I thought that there was essentially an agreement. It was seen that no, that there was a fundamental difference” , he stressed, reinforcing criticism of António Costa’s option to keep Galamba in government.
“I will have to be even more attentive and involved in everyday life from now on,” warned Marcelo, who had started the intervention by saying that “despite the very positive numbers for our economy, these large numbers did not reach the lives of the Portuguese, who expect and need more and better.” “This requires capacity, credibility, respectability and authority. And for authority to exist, it must be accountable.”
Before communicating with the country, the President of the Republic received António Costa in Belém for the usual weekly meeting with the Prime Minister, around 6 p.m., two days after he expressed his disagreement with the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint João Galamba as Minister of Infrastructure. Costa left Belém around 7:45 p.m., fifteen minutes before Marcelo’s statement.
On Tuesday evening, after António Costa announced the decision to keep the minister, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa released a note stating that he “disagrees with his position regarding the political interpretation of the facts and the resulting perception on the part of the Portuguese, with regard to the prestige of the institutions governing them”. The head of state stressed that “you cannot exonerate a member of the government without a proposal from the prime minister”.
In the same note, published on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic on the Internet, Marcelo mentioned that João Galamba, when offering his resignation, “invoked compelling reasons related to citizens’ perceptions of political institutions” and that the Prime Minister ” decided not to do so out of conscientious objection, despite the situation he considered deplorable”.
Marcelo then decided to speak on Thursday, before embarking on an extensive political agenda abroad: from next Friday he will be in London, for the coronation of Charles III, until Saturday (6); then on to Yuste, Spain between May 8 and 9; and Strasbourg between 9 and 10 May.
Source: DN
