Former PSD president Rui Rio said this Wednesday that he was “deeply uncomfortable” with the interview given by the Attorney General of the Republic and that he believes that the Ministry of State (MP) is behaving like a state within the state.
“The interview with the Attorney General of the Republic left me deeply uneasy because for me it was at a level above everything and everyone, which shows that the deputy is behaving practically like a state within a state,” he told Rui Rio.
The former Social Democrat leader and former mayor of Porto also added that “the MP is not a sovereign body”, rejecting the idea that there is “an organised campaign against the prosecutor”. [Lucília Gago]”.
“I think this statement is wild. If we read my speeches when I was mayor of Porto, around April 25, 18 years ago, 20 years ago, 15 years ago, I already did this, and then I already organized campaigns before that you are the attorney general of the republic,” he stressed.
He also gave up on his desire to be the protagonist of this topic, but promised that he would talk about it again in the future.
Rio spoke to journalists this Wednesday before the ceremony of handing over the keys to the city of Miranda do Douro to the coordinator of the Bloc de Esquerda Mariana Mortágua, the former Secretary of State for Finance Nuno Santos Felix and the former leader of the PSD.
The award, proposed by the municipal executive, is presented on the municipal holiday of that municipality in the district of Bragança.
In an interview with RTP on Monday, the Attorney General of the Republic, Lucilia Gago, said she had never considered resigning after the criticism she and the public ministry in general had been subjected to, following media cases such as Operation Influencer, which led to the fall of the government of António Costa, who is being investigated but is not named as an accused in the case.
Lucilia Gago also said there was a “planned campaign” against the MP, questioning the legitimacy of some of the people who criticize him.
“I am very aware that there is in fact an organised campaign, organised by people who should not have done it, an organised campaign in which a large group of people who currently have or have had important responsibilities in the life of the nation were also involved. It would be better if they did not carry out the attacks that were launched,” PGR criticised.
Recently, several political and civil society figures have gathered around a manifesto that calls for justice reform and criticizes the actions of the deputy, including former party leaders such as Rui Rio, former presidents of the Assembly of the Republic such as Ferro Rodrigues or Augusto Santos Silva, former ministers, former deputies and others.