Costa believes that justice should think about the publicity of the actions under investigation

This Monday, the Prime Minister considered that justice should reflect the publication of the acts under investigation, which are still insufficiently substantiated, and noted that the issues that he raised in the first conversation with the President of the Republic disappeared in the second conversation.

These positions were stated by António Costa in statements to CNN/Portugalat the official residence of São Bento, answering questions about his involvement in the judicial investigation that led to his resignation as prime minister on November 7.

“I think it’s normal that if there is a suspicion, then this suspicion is investigated. If you ask me whether I think it is normal for the existence of a suspicion to be made public without sufficient investigative steps being carried out to determine the suitability of the person – that is something that justice must reflect on its own,” the Prime Minister said.

Regarding his personal situation regarding the investigation in which he is involved and which is taking place in the Supreme Court, António Costa said that he has “an absolutely clear conscience.”

“I have no doubt about how this story will end because I know exactly what I did, I know exactly what I didn’t do. I know that not a single decision I have made in these almost 30 years has brought any benefit. political life, no undue benefits other than the salary paid to me. And so I wait calmly,” he said.

In statements he made to CNN/Portugal, he also outlined two conversations he had with head of state Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the Belem Palace the morning he asked for his resignation as prime minister. Between these two conversations, the President of the Republic received the Prosecutor General of the Republic, Lucilia Gago.

António Costa began by referring to the first of two conversations with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

“At 8:30 I asked to have this conversation, and at 9:30 we had this conversation. And that was a very important conversation for me in thinking about what I was going to do. The prime minister is obliged to listen to the president of the republic also on fundamental decisions,” he said.

In the second conversation, which took place at the end of the morning, according to António Costa, “the issues that were discussed in the first conversation had no reason to exist.”

“In the meantime, the Attorney General of the Republic made a statement in which she inserted the last paragraph in which she officially announced to Portugal, to the whole world, to the Portuguese, that a case had been opened against me. I understand that the dignity of the role, the trust that the Portuguese must have in the role of Prime Minister, is incompatible with the existence of a process, the contours of which I do not know, the reason for which is unknown to me, but it was a process where corruption, malfeasance, abuse of influence, respect from other people, and where it was said that the Prime Minister was heard, or rather, was not heard, conversations between third parties referred to the Prime Minister,” he noted.

At this point, still the leader of the executive branch, made another remark: “It does not occur to me that the suspicions were not strong enough for the prosecutor general of the republic to decide to open a case.”

“And they must have been very strong to even understand that it was their responsibility to inform the public that they were conducting an investigation,” he commented.

António Costa concluded by saying that “whoever does not think this way is not the son of good people.”

“I have been involved in public life for many years, almost 30 years. No one has ever questioned my integrity, my honesty or even whether I have committed any crime,” he added.