The president of the republic said this Wednesday that he had contacts with “a single official body” about the intervention of the SIS in the recovery of a computer taken over from the Ministry of Infrastructure, and found it easy to deduce who did it used to be.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke in answer to questions from journalists, in the former royal arena, next to the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon.
The head of state reiterated that it was on April 29 – the day Infrastructure Minister João Galamba spoke publicly about the matter at a press conference – that he had “the first official contact” about the intervention of the security intelligence service. Service (SIS) after the incidents on the night of April 26 at the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The President of the Republic referred to that “first official contact” on April 29 and shortly afterwards to the contact revealed by the Prime Minister between the two after the SIS crackdown, emphasizing that António Costa clarified in parliament that in that conversation “there no talk about the SIS”.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “Adding one and one together makes it possible to understand who was the one who contacted the President of the Republic on the 29th, therefore it is an easy conclusion to establish, since the Prime Minister took the initiative to speak in a contact with the President of the Republic”.
The head of state regretted that the journalists had not understood who that person was, stating in order of facts: “I even thought they understood the connection, but still”.
“What more I can say is that during this whole period I have only had one official contact, always the same one. I did not have two, three, four, five. I concentrated the contacts in one official entity”he added.
Regarding the intervention of the SIS in this matter, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa reaffirmed today that he has not changed his position since he spoke to the country at the beginning of May: “On the 4th I said what I thought about the composition of the government and I said what I thought about the lessons to be learned from this. I haven’t changed my mind”.
“On the 29th I already had in my head what I communicated to the Portuguese on the 4th and which I still have in my head,” he added.
The president of the republic defended that he has “a greater role” in the current political framework, “since the government has the support of an absolute majority in parliament, it cannot be assumed that parliament makes fundamental decisions against the government, controls by parliament is always more limited”.
SIS intervened in the recovery of a computer stolen from the Ministry of Infrastructure on April 26 by Frederico Pinheiro, former assistant to Minister João Galamba, who had been fired that night.
This case concerns complaints against Frederico Pinheiro for physical violence at the Ministry of Infrastructure, rejected by him, who complains that he was kidnapped in the building.
After the April 26 incidents, opposing versions appeared in public between elements of the Cabinet of the Minister of Infrastructure and Frederico Pinheiro, including about information to be provided by the government to the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the political protection of the TAP management.
On April 29, Minister João Galamba gave a press conference about these events, in which he talked about calling in the SIS and appointing some government officials with whom he said he had consulted what to do.
A week ago, during the general policy debate with the government in the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister, António Costa, said that he spoke to the Minister of Infrastructure after the SIS implementation: “I spoke to Minister João Galamba, if how I talked to other ministers, how I talked to the President of the Republic, how I talked to ‘n’ people”.
This answer was given to PSD parliamentary leader Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, but was later supplemented in discussion with Chega President André Ventura, with António Costa clarifying that he had not spoken to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa about the achievements of the security services.
“If I said in any way that I informed the President of the Republic about the SIS intervention, I will use your question to immediately correct it. I never informed the President of the Republic about the SIS intervention, let me be clear,” the Prime Minister clarified.
In his statement to the country on May 4, the president of the republic assumed a “fundamental difference” with the prime minister regarding the retention of João Galamba as minister – to which he had already publicly expressed his opposition, via of a written note.
The head of state summed up the incidents between the office of João Galamba and his former deputy Frederico Pinheiro as “a moment when the responsibility of the rulers was not accepted as it should have been” and had cost “to credibility, reliability, on the authority of the minister, the government and the state”.
And he pledged to be “even more observant and more involved in day-to-day life”, to avoid conflict factors that deteriorate institutions, stating that he “wants to avoid resorting to exceptional powers”.
Today, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa reiterated that the audiences with the parties and the Council of State meeting he had called for July are aimed at analyzing the “economic situation, how it is evolving, the social situation and the political situation” and related to “the prestige of institutions”.
Asked about the position of the opposition, he replied that he looks “at the institutions as a whole”, that he is concerned with “all institutions”, hoping that “they are permanently prestigious and that there is no detachment from the Portuguese in relation to democratic institutions, because that would mean a start in relation to democracy”.
Source: DN
