Antonio Vitorino says no one told him about Costa’s possible replacement

Lawyer and former PS leader António Vitorino assured today that no one told him about the possible replacement of António Costa after the resignation of the Prime Minister, announced following the investigation in which he was implicated in the “Operation Influential Man” case.

The name of António Vitorino was put forward last Wednesday by the publication Expresso as one of four hypotheses for replacing António Costa at the head of the government, which would avoid the scenario of early elections that would have been called by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. , as of March 10, 2024

“Nobody spoke to me,” the former European Commissioner told Lusa on the sidelines of his hearing as a witness in the EDP case at the Justice Campus, when asked about his inclusion among the names António Costa presented to Marcelo. Rebelo de Sousa, which allegedly included the Governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mário Centeno, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, and the President of the PS, Carlos Cesar.

This topic has already given rise to an exchange of statements between the Governor of the Bank of Portugal and the President of the Republic, since on Sunday, in statements to the Financial Times, Mario Centeno said that he had “an invitation from the President and the President of the Republic.” The Prime Minister must think and consider the possibility of leading the government.”

The President of the Republic then, in a note published on the President’s website, denied that he had made any invitations or authorized contacts in this regard. On Monday morning, Mario Centeno clarified in a statement that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa did not invite him to lead the government.

On the other hand, António Vitorino refused to give any further comments on the political situation in the country or the internal dispute over the leadership of the Socialist Party, which is currently personified by the candidates of the Minister of the Interior José Luis Carneiro and the former minister. Infrastructure Pedro Nuno Saints.

Operation Influencer was unveiled last Tuesday by the State Department; during it, 42 searches were carried out, as a result of which five people were arrested: the now former chief of staff of the Prime Minister, Victor Escaria; consultant Diogo Lacerda Machado, friend of Antonio Costa; Mayor of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas; and Start Campus administrators Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves.

The five detainees were released on Monday by a decision of the Central Criminal Court, which applied only a bail of 150 thousand euros and a ban on leaving the country for Diogo Lacerda Machado, with this latter coercive measure also applied. o Vitor Escaria. In turn, the mayor and two administrators were left with only a form of identification and residence.

In total, there are nine defendants in the case, including now former infrastructure minister João Galamba; President of the Portuguese Environment Agency Nuno Lacasta; lawyer, former Minister of Justice and former PS representative João Thiago Silveira; and the company Start Campus (for which a deposit of 600 thousand euros was also paid).

António Costa became the subject of an investigation by a deputy of the Supreme Court after suspects in an investigation into influence peddling in a data center business in Sines named him as the person who interfered with unlocking procedures.

The deputy believes that the Prime Minister interfered with the approval of the diploma, beneficial to the interests of the Start Campus company, which is responsible for the data center, the indictment says. On the day of his dismissal, Costa refused to engage in “any illegal or objectionable acts.”