Durau Barroso denies that Pinho and Salgado could have foreseen the fall of the government

Former Prime Minister Durán Barroso told the court on Tuesday that it would take a “political genius” to foresee, before heading to the presidency of the European Commission (EC) in the summer of 2004, that the PS would take over the Government.

Appearing as a witness in the EDP trial at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, Durau Barroso was questioned about an alleged criminal agreement concluded between defendants Manuel Pinho and Ricardo Salgado in March 2005 so that the former could protect the interests of the Group Espirito Santo (GES).

“At that time there was no chance. My horizon was to fulfill the mandate. It was completely forced… In fact, my trip to the European Commission did not mean a change of government to the PS,” Durau Barroso said.

The former Prime Minister also confirmed that the condition of his departure from the government was the appointment of then President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio as Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopez.

“When I left, there was no PS government, but there was a government of my party and another party that was connected [CDS]. This was a prerequisite: I don’t think there is a political genius who could foresee what person A, B or C was going to do in the next government,” he emphasized.

Durau Barroso admitted that he also worked as a consultant for GES in an “international consulting company”, but assured that the former GES president never sought favors. “Dr. Ricardo Salgado never used his position to gain any favor,” he stressed.

In a statement that focused on the political situation that emerged some 20 years ago, Durau Barroso also explained that he only determined the constitution of his government when he was elected prime minister, although he already had some people with whom he spoke or who acted as party interlocutors on certain issues.

“I didn’t have a structured team. I never formed a shadow government, but I had people I talked to,” he noted regarding the context in which Manuel Piño knew or did not know in advance that he would be a minister in the future. PS Government.

He also added that he did not even know Carlos Tavares well when he called him to the post of Minister of Economy of his government.

Regarding the fall of the PSD-SDS majority at the end of 2004, when his successor Santana López took over as Prime Minister, Durau Barroso confirmed the stability of the center-right majority, but acknowledged – with reference to the current political situation. situation – that politics also consists of unforeseen events.

“Institutionally, the absolute majority is expected to be more stable, but politics is about elusive things, as we see in our country,” he said.

“If you ask me if I expected what happened next, I didn’t. At that time it is very difficult for anyone to predict what will happen. There has never been a dissolution of parliament with a parliamentary majority. There was no precedent in Portugal, I think not even in Europe yet. If there is, it is very rare,” he said.

Manuel Pinho, under house arrest since December 2021, is accused of passive corruption for unlawful acts, passive corruption, money laundering and tax fraud.

His wife Alexandra Pinho is on trial for money laundering and tax fraud – materially co-authored with her husband – and former BES President Ricardo Salgado is liable for active corruption for an unlawful act, active corruption and money. laundering.