PSD accuses Costa of ‘disrespect for parliament’ and says it has not received official responses

PSD’s parliamentary leader said this Thursday that the Prime Minister’s responses on SIS have not yet been submitted to the Assembly of the Republic, accusing António Costa of “disrespecting Parliament” and “trampling institutions”.

“It is disrespectful to the Assembly of the Republic that the Prime Minister’s possible answers to the questions asked by the PSD yesterday [quarta-feira] about the work of the SIS in the case of a laptop belonging to the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, which has not yet been sent to Parliament, but has already been in the media since 6:30 in the morning,” Joaquim Miranda Sarmento criticized in statements to journalists after the meeting of the parliamentary group.

The leader of the Social Democratic Parliament declined to comment on the content of the answers released this Thursday by Lusa “until they are official.”

“But if it is confirmed that the answers that are in the media are the answers that the prime minister will give in this parliament, then this is a huge disrespect for parliament and a serious failure in the functioning of institutions,” he said. accused.

When asked if PSD received direct responses from António Costa, Miranda Sarmento replied in the negative.

“We do not receive directly, and this will not be a channel, the channel goes through the Assembly of the Republic and the services of the Assembly of the Republic have not yet received it,” he repeated.

The prime minister’s responses, released by Lusa, have already been posted on the government’s Internet portal, but on the parliament’s website – in the tab dedicated to “questions and requests” – there is neither the question of the PSD announced on Wednesday, nor the corresponding answer.

In the responses to which Lusa had access, the Prime Minister states that the actions of the SIS (Security Information Service) to recover a computer seized from the Ministry of Infrastructure did not require his permission and were not the result of a suggestion by his Secretary of State, Deputy António Mendonça Mendez.

PSD’s request states that “the Minister of Infrastructure stated that it was Prime Minister António Mendonça Mendes, Deputy Secretary of State, who proposed the intervention of the SIRP (Portuguese Republic Information System) / SIS” and asks “what was the basis for this proposal, when did it occur and on what conditions.”

António Costa replies that, “according to what was made public by the Minister of Infrastructure and confirmed by his head of cabinet [Eugénia Correia]the initiative to apply to the SIS came from the head of the cabinet of the Minister of Infrastructure, and not as a result of a proposal by the Deputy Secretary of State to the Prime Minister.”

António Costa reiterates that, in his opinion, “the head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Infrastructure acted correctly in the face of the security breach of classified documents.”

Regarding the moment and timeframe in which the Minister of Infrastructure informed him of the use of SIRP/SIS to recover the computer, the Chief Executive states: about what happened and reassuring me that this had already been reported to the competent authorities, namely the SIS.”

Asked whether he “sanctioned, approved or accepted, however tacitly, this decision”, the Prime Minister replied that he had been asked to give any permission: “As I have also publicly and repeatedly stated, I have not been and am not should have been informed in advance of any SIS activity, so I was not asked to provide any permission.”

“By the way, I believe, based on what has been said by various stakeholders, that when I spoke with the Minister of Infrastructure, SIS had already contacted Dr. Frederico Pinheiro and arranged with him for a voluntary and free return of the computer. , as he himself told the media on April 28, 29 and 30,” he adds.