This Saturday, the secretary general of the PKP defended the rapid clarification of government-related legal cases, believing that breaking out of the cloud would be “the worst thing that could happen.”
“For the sake of everyone, for the sake of justice, for the sake of society, it was good and needed urgently, within the possible time frame of justice, for all these cases to be quickly clarified and, if there were culprits, for them to be guilty with all the ensuing consequences,” said Paulo Raimundo .
The General Secretary of the PCP spoke to journalists during a protest that brought together thousands of people this Saturday afternoon in Lisbon, organized by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers — Intersindical Nacional (CGTP-IN) under the slogan “For higher wages/against the rising cost of living “
“We would all benefit if this was cleared up quickly. Staying in the cloud, leaving the idea of a quagmire in the middle of all this is the worst thing that can happen,” warned Paulo Raimundo, who refused to comment on the “dispute within PS and your housekeeping.”
In his opinion, what will matter in the next legislative elections will be the result that the CDU (PCP/PEV) achieves: “This is what will determine the future of the politics that will develop.”
“We are very confident in this election fight,” he emphasized.
The PKP Secretary General emphasized that over the past two years, when the PS had an absolute majority, with “all the instruments in its hands” and “without any obstacles, it not only destroyed all these conditions, but also the possibilities of choice.” it did the exact opposite of what the people and the country needed.”
“People have already realized the difference whether the number of CDU and PKP increases or not,” he said.
In addition, he stressed that the PCP is clear that Portugal “has the means, the conditions, the resources and, above all, serious and honest people capable of responding to the country’s problems.”
Regarding the protests that took place this Saturday in Lisbon and Porto, the communist leader stressed that this is “an excellent response by the workers” to the problems they currently face.
“Problems of low wages, problems of rising costs of living, problems of low pensions. This is also what it is today [este sábado] expresses himself here on the street with this strength and determination, demanding exactly this: more wages, more pensions, the fight against the rising cost of living,” he said, emphasizing that if problems “don’t wait,” workers cannot stay either .
Portugal will hold early legislative elections on March 10, 2024, scheduled by the President of the Republic, following the resignation of the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
António Costa became the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Public Prosecutor (MP) at the Supreme Court after suspects in a case linked to a business related to lithium, green hydrogen and a data center in Sines named him as having intervened to unblock the procedures.
Prosecutors believe the prime minister interfered with the approval of the diploma, which was in the interests of Start Campus, the company responsible for the data center, according to the indictment, which contains several other references to Antonio Costa.
On the day of his dismissal, Costa refused to engage in “any illegal or objectionable acts.”
According to the deputy, in the business process of lithium in Boticas and Montalegre, green hydrogen and the data center in Sines, malfeasance, active and passive corruption of political officials and influence peddling may be at risk.
There are nine defendants in total, including Infrastructure Minister João Galamba, Portuguese Environmental Agency President Nuno Lacasta, lawyer and former PS representative João Thiago Silveira and the company Start Campus.
Five people were detained for questioning: the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Vitor Escaria, the mayor of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, two administrators of the Start Campus society, Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, as well as lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado, a friend of Antonio. Costa.