The Foreign Minister said that if he had known what he knows this Wednesday, he would not have appointed the former Director General of Defense Resources, currently detained in a judicial investigation, to run a state-owned company in the sector.
“In a retrospective exercise, adding information that later became known, that is, knowing what I know today, I obviously would not assign it to other functions. But this knowledge is what I know today, which differs significantly from the information available at the time of the decision,” defended Joao Gomes Cravinho.
The official who led defense between 2018 and 2022 is being heard in Parliament this Wednesday as part of the hearings requested by PSD in a speech in which he insisted he did not authorize or demand any increase in spending on reconversion. former military hospital of Belém.
Cravinho reiterated that he did not sanction “neither tacitly nor directly” and rejected political responsibility.
The former defense minister also responded to the doubts expressed by the Social Democrats about the appointment of the former Director General of Defense Resources and the current Perfect Storm detainee, Alberto Coelho, by the state company of the ETI sector. – Empordef Information Technologies.
Gomes Cravinho has compiled a timeline of events since 2020, when the decision was made to convert the former military hospital of Belém into a military support center for COVID-19 – a job that has shrunk from 750,000 euros to 3.2 million.
The Minister recalled that in April 2021, when the process of appointing Alberto Coelho to Empordef began, he had information that the former CEO is a person with “great experience and accumulated knowledge in this field”, as well as “extended terms in various positions of governments of various political forces”.
Despite the report on the first IGDN review citing “non-compliance with the law” regarding the work at the hospital, he continued, the same organization “did not foresee the seriousness of what would now be investigated.”
“And it was this IGDN that suggested that I ratify the acts of the CEO [através de despacho](…). Therefore, we are very far from a picture indicating a discrepancy,” he said.
Cravinho emphasized that the process of appointing Alberto Coelho to Empordef “began in April 2021, passed the CRESAP verification. [Comissão de Recrutamento e Seleção para a Administração Pública] and concluded on June 08, 2021.
“A few weeks later, in mid-July 2021, new news emerged that raised serious suspicions about contract companies.
Cravinho insisted that upon receiving this information, he “immediately” ordered the Inspectorate General of National Defense (IGDN) to re-evaluate the first inspection with the new information, and also asked the organization to review “all contracts.” under the Ministry of National Defense over the past three years to companies that have carried out work at the Belen military support center and assess their suitability for doing the same work.”
Despite the report on the first IGDN review citing “non-compliance with the law” regarding the work at the hospital, he continued, the same organization “did not foresee the seriousness of what would now be investigated.”
“And it was this IGDN that suggested that I ratify the acts of the CEO [através de despacho](…). Therefore, we are very far from a picture indicating a discrepancy,” he said.
Cravinho emphasized that the process of appointing Alberto Coelho to Empordef “began in April 2021, passed the CRESAP verification. [Comissão de Recrutamento e Seleção para a Administração Pública] and concluded on June 08, 2021.
“A few weeks later, in mid-July 2021, new news emerged that raised serious suspicions about contract companies.
Cravinho insisted that upon receiving this information, he “immediately” ordered the Inspectorate General of National Defense (IGDN) to re-evaluate the first inspection with the new information, and also asked the organization to review “all contracts.” under the Ministry of National Defense over the past three years to companies that have carried out work at the Belen military support center and assess their suitability for doing the same work.”
Also the current Minister of Defense, Marco Capitan Ferreira, who at the time of the events was President of IdD Portugal Defense, stated that “he could not make an assessment based on information that was not known at the time.” “.
“The attempt to rewrite history is a constant but unproductive temptation to clarify the situation. Whether it is the president of the IdD or the secretary of state, I do not make decisions based on what is published in the media (…), this cannot be the only reason for removing people from their positions or functions,” he argued.
Moments earlier, PSD’s Jorge Paulo Oliveira said that Wednesday is “the day the minister rediscovers the truth” and irons out “omissions and contradictions.”
“The Minister did not explicitly sanction the slippage, and from a purely legal point of view, he may not have even tacitly sanctioned this slippage, which we did not allow, but politically, and all the facts point to this, the Minister sanctioned this increase. expenses,” he said.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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