PSD President Luís Montenegro announced on Monday that the party’s leadership “decided to withdraw political confidence from Deputy Pinto Moreira”, who had been appointed as arguido under Operation Vortex.
“This decision is purely political and justified following the uncoordinated resumption of the parliamentary mandate at a time far removed from the legal suspension period,” Montenegro said at PSD headquarters in Lisbon.
Joaquim Pinto Moreira decided to resume his parliamentary mandate last week, two months after he suspended it, following Operation Vortex, in which he was named a defendant.
The leader of the Social Democrats said the party’s Standing Committee had also decided to “request the National Jurisdiction Council to launch an internal investigation process into the conditions under which the candidates of the Lisbon City Council for the 2017 elections were elected”.
Montenegro indicated that it intends to determine whether the candidates’ choice complied with “all legal and regulatory rules, as well as the highest values of truth and democratic authenticity”.
“We will not condone any form of democratic corruption and we will be irreconcilable with respect for the law and political ethics,” he stressed.
Updated
Source: DN
