Montenegro argues that changes in leadership positions in the new government are quite natural.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on Tuesday that a change in leadership positions in the new government was natural and urged journalists to compare the changes made now with those made by previous governments over the same period of time.

“We have begun a new cycle of government, within this cycle it is natural that there will be replacements in senior positions of responsibility related to the implementation of the government program and the performance of duties that have political control. This should be said naturally, without drama,” Luis Montenegro said in response to the media.

The Prime Minister spoke at the end of a meeting of the Permanent Commission for Social Coordination at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Council in Lisbon regarding the dismissal of José Barros Correia from the post of national director of the Public Security Police. (PSP), on Monday, in which he was replaced by Luis Carrillo.

When asked about what was the motive for this dismissal, Luis Montenegro began by referring to the statements of the Minister of the Interior Margarida Blasco, stating only that “what happened finally happened quite naturally, namely the replacement of the national director of the PSP.”

Faced with persistent demands from journalists to explain the change in the national leadership of the PSP, the head of government responded: “There are reasons of an operational nature, and there are reasons for the nature of the relationship between trusteeship and the national leadership of the PSP. These reasons are related to the implementation of the State program and the implementation of trusteeship.”

“In essence, I must add the following: we have started a new cycle of the Government, within this cycle it is natural that there will be replacements in high responsible positions that are related to the implementation of the Government Program and the implementation of responsibilities that have oversight. You need to say this naturally, without drama. There is no need to create cases,” he said.

When asked if he refused to allow the government to make changes based on a party program, Luis Montenegro replied that he misunderstood the issue: “It was necessary to create a government that would have a party program for the PSP. I’m really wrong. That’s what was missing. No party agenda.

“Actually, journalists, if you want to bother, you can compare the number of replacements made by previous governments during the same period when we were already in power,” he then suggested.

The Prime Minister denied any connection between the change in the national leadership of the PSP and ongoing negotiations between the government and security forces: “Nothing to do with it. This concerns aspects of the operational and managerial nature of the issue, which, in addition, is a matter of sovereignty.”

He also rejected the fact that the government was facing more difficulties than expected in the relationship between the guardianship authorities and the heads of the organizations: “No, not at all.”

In a message sent to all PSP staff on Monday, José Barros Correia attributed his removal to the “exceptional initiative” of the interior minister and said he would retire after 40 years of service.

Regarding the change in leadership of the PSP, the Home Secretary today described it as part of a “deep restructuring” of the police force that the Government wants to carry out and for which it has invested “in a new person”.

According to Margarida Blasco, the government wants to carry out “an operational restructuring and reorganization of the entire PSP structure in order to respond to new threats and understand the phenomena occurring in several urban centers.”

José Barros Correia has served as PSP National Director since September last year. The commander of the Special Police Unit (UEP), Luis Carrillo, was selected as the National Director of the PSP.