Passos Coelho says Montenegro has disconnected from itself

Former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho believes that Luis Montenegro was worried about the break with his heritage, in an interview published this Monday, in which he also revealed that the troika did not trust Paulo Portas.

“He [Luís Montenegro] He truly was a great parliamentary leader. And then he had the opportunity to create the conditions to take the path of leader of the SDP. So he is part of that heritage and legacy. To what extent does he want to disconnect further from his past? I don’t know. It seems to me that recently it has become very clear that there is concern about attempted shutdowns,” states Passos Coelho.

In an interview with Observador Radio’s “I Was There” podcast, the former PSD president says that “to a certain extent” he understands this concern of the current Social Democratic leader and prime minister, “because it is important that parties can have a future perspective and not always be tied to your past.”

In a conversation with journalist Maria João Avilés, Passos refuses to “embarrass” Montenegro with his public appearances, but emphasizes: “Now I also cannot be prevented from saying something from time to time about what I think. .And I think for myself, obviously.”

In this interview, Passos Coelho says that during his reign with CDS-PP, the troika (European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) “at a certain point realized that there was a problem with CDS” and “missed demand letters, signed by Paulo Portas.”

“I think he doesn’t know this: to prevent humiliation of the foreign minister, I made the finance minister sign a letter to the institutions together with me and him. We signed all three. Troika only demanded a letter from him because I didn’t trust him,” he says.

During the seventh assessment of the institutions that provided credit to Portugal during the sovereign debt crisis, Paulo Portas was an obstacle and, according to Passos, only the intervention of the then President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, prevented “all the victims being wasted.” made by the Portuguese.”

“I could not convince Paulo Portas to accept any version. Not one, not one. I even convened a Council. [de Ministros] extraordinary to explain to the government that we will not be able to pass the assessment because Paulo Portas did not accept the assessment. One could only guess what would happen next. Troika said that if we didn’t want to do anything, they wouldn’t send any more money. What followed? I don’t know, it’s a mystery to me. Paulo Portas has changed his mind. I believe that it was the president of the republic,” he says.

Following Portas’s resignation from the government in 2013, which Passos Coelho did not accept, the SDS-PP leader rose from minister of state and foreign affairs to deputy prime minister, and the relationship between them changed, with public signs of harmony culminating in the election campaign in the 2015 elections, in which they formed coalitions and won, eventually forming a government that was overthrown by an alliance of PS, PCP, BE and PEV.

As for Cavaco Silva, he says he had a “flawless relationship” with him.

“And in difficult times I had his support. This was important for the country. If I had failed, the country would have failed too,” the former prime minister said in an interview in which he also revealed that he had an early understanding that his successor António Costa was preparing an agreement with the PCP to be able to govern , a rapprochement with the left that also brought BE and PEV together.