Bank of Portugal Governor Mário Centeno explained on Sunday that he is “very far from making a decision” on the proposal to “reflect and consider the possibility of leading the government” made by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister.
The first statements about the invitation were made on Sunday by Mario Centeno to the North American edition of the Financial Times.
“I have received an invitation from the president and prime minister to think about and consider the possibility of leading the government,” he said, adding that he was “very far from making a decision.”
On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who tendered his resignation on Tuesday, said that Bank of Portugal governor and former finance minister Mario Centeno should succeed him as head of the new executive body under the current parliamentary framework. and expressed regret that the President of the Republic decided to call early elections.
On Saturday, Eco newspaper reported that the Bank of Portugal’s (BdP) Ethics Committee was due to meet today to assess a possible conflict of interest or possible incompatibility after the Prime Minister revealed that he had indicated to the President of the Republic the name of Mario Centeno, the former finance minister, to replace him as head of the PS government.
When asked by Lusa about the schedule of the meeting, an official source in the BJP said that “the ethics committee must comment on this matter.”
According to the banking supervisory rules of conduct, the Ethics Committee is responsible for “promoting the development, application, compliance and updating of the Bank’s code of conduct applicable to members of the Board of Directors.”
The responsibilities include “issuing, on its own initiative and after hearing from interested parties, an opinion on the conformity of certain conduct of members of the Board of Directors with the provisions of the code of conduct applicable to them,” and requesting the recipients of the opinion to provide information about the observed behavior.
The Ethics Committee meets once a quarter and extraordinary at the initiative of any of its members, as well as at the request of the Board of Directors or the Audit Commission.
The regulations stipulate that the Ethics Committee consists of the president and two members appointed by the Board of Directors on the proposal of the president and the president of the Audit Commission from among persons not bound by contractual relations with the bank and having recognized merit and independence.
The news of the extraordinary meeting of the Ethics Commission came after opposition parties criticized the invitation of Mario Centeno.
“This is just another demonstration, but much more serious, of the lack of independence that the governor of the Bank of Portugal has,” accused PSD parliamentary leader Joaquim Miranda Sarmento on Friday, speaking to reporters in parliament, demanding Mário Centeno say whether he gave his consent to the Prime Minister offering his name to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The leader of the IL parliament, Rodrigo Saraiva, also criticized the solution proposed by António Costa to the head of state, believing that the political future of Portugal cannot be determined by a “secretariat decision”.
In the same spirit, PAN MP Inés Souza Real criticized the nomination of Mario Centeno, stressing that the party has always been against the so-called “revolving door”.
For his part, President Chegi accused the governor of lacking independence in running the institution.
As for the PS, parliamentary leader Eurico Brillante Dias said that “any responsible Portuguese” should take up the challenge and help the country.
“If Mario Centeno were asked to lead the government, I expect that he would responsibly agree. To say that, given the circumstances in which the country finds itself, he would not agree to what is a work for the benefit of all, does not seem responsible to me.” , counts.
Portugal will hold early legislative elections on March 10, 2024.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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