Costa responds to Passos’ sourness: “It must be tiring waiting eight years for the devil to come”

Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Tuesday refused to respond to Pedro Passos Coelho’s criticism because “acid does not deserve comment”, realizing it was “very tiring” to wait eight years for the devil to appear without him. arrival.

“There is nothing to say about bitterness. I think his words speak for themselves,” began António Costa, answering reporters at the Christmas dinner of the PS Parliamentary Group, when asked about the statements of Passos Coelho, who said on Tuesday that the leader had filed resigned “due to indecent and poor appearance.”

Faced with persistent demands from journalists, Costa repeated that “bitterness does not deserve comment.”

“I respect that, I understand. It must be very tiring to spend eight years counting, day after day, waiting for the devil to come. The devil never comes again and then it comes out,” he said.

Costa was received by the parliamentary leader of the PS, Eurico Brillante Diaz, and after these short statements to journalists, he waited for his successor in the leadership of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, with whom he entered the hall where the dinner was taking place. takes place together with PS President Carlos Cesar.

The Lisbon Congress Center brings together the main figures of the PS, from MPs to MEPs, including members of the government, including the candidate who lost in last weekend’s internal elections, Interior Minister José Luis Carneiro.

Former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho on Tuesday said the dismissal of António Costa after the Operation Influential Man process was due to “indecent and bad character” and called for political change in the next legislative elections.

“I hope the country knows how to make the current government that is leaving office have a serious commitment to the situation in which the country finds itself. So serious that the Prime Minister was the only one I remember who felt the need to submit dismissal for indecent and bad appearance,” said the former SDP chairman.

Speaking to reporters outside the court where he was testifying as a witness in the EDP case, Passos Coelho also expressed his desire for the situation in Portugal to improve, warning that the situation “will not improve without dedication, effort and some effort.” conditions for this to happen.”