The Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Lucilia Gago, yesterday considered the dismissal of former Prime Minister António Costa “a personal and political assessment for which the Ministry of State is not responsible.” [MP] “I do not consider myself responsible for the resignation of the prime minister,” he emphasized in an interview with the publication. RTP.
The PGR considers the reference to a judicial coup d’état with Operation Influential Man “totally out of context” and denies the existence of “any desire to prosecute politicians” in parliament. The investigation “is still ongoing” and if “it is not closed, it is because something is blocking it,” he explained, in contrast to a recent interview in which Deputy Attorney General Rosario Teixeira dismissed the suspicions against Costa.
If the case is dismissed, Lucilia Gago guaranteed that she will not “apologize” to Costa. “It cannot be said that citizens are equal before the law and want a different attitude towards the Prime Minister,” he noted.
The PGR denies the intervention of the President of the Republic in the preparation of the statement that led to the resignation of the former ruler. “Not a single comma,” he said, since even before the meeting with Marcelo Rebelo de Souza on the “Influential Person” case, “the statement had already been written.”
In the paragraph concerning Costa, written by the PGR “in collaboration with the press service”, the “omission” of a process initiated “after the mention of suspects who pointed to a certain and decisive protagonist of the Prime Minister” was incomprehensible,” they explained.
Regarding Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s reference to the “Machiavellianism” of the coincidence of the dates when the “Influencer” trial and the Portuguese-Brazilian twins case became public, Lucilia Gago acknowledged that these words “caused confusion and discomfort” since “there was no purpose in coordinating the dates” and “there are no criteria of this type in the actions of the deputy”.
“Despite the informal context” of the dinner with foreign journalists at which he made this observation, “the President of the Republic did not lose his status as President of the Republic” and created “in public opinion” the idea of “an effort to agree on dates,” PGR claims.
The recent statements by Justice Minister Rita Alarcao Judice about the need to “restore order” in Parliament also left her “distrustful and even perplexed,” since they “attribute to the MP the exceptional nature of everything that happens in the courts.”
He considered them “serious” and “indiscriminate,” criticizing the minister for not telling him about the diagnosis at the “three-hour hearing” he had requested in March. “If I had something to say, I could have said it then,” said Lucilia Gago, who felt a “loss of confidence” in her “leadership” after the minister’s interview but “never” considered resigning.
Regarding the “various forms of pressure on the deputy” that, in his opinion, continue, he expressed regret about “an organized campaign in which a group of people responsible for the life of the nation took part.”
Single mandate
Lucilia Gago, former Prime Minister António Costa’s “first choice” for the post of Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), succeeded Joana Marques Vidal in 2018 and ends her term in October. In March, the PGR intended to meet with the President of the Republic, who defends a single mandate for the position.
Parliamentary hearings
The republic’s attorney general will be heard in parliament, but asked that the hearings take place after the completion of the ministry’s annual report.
Author: Miguel Bravo Morais This Joao Maltes
Source: CM Jornal
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