The President of the Republic sent his decision for next week in response to a request to testify before the commission of inquiry into the case of twins with spinal muscular atrophy who are being treated at the Santa Maria hospital.
“Next week I will state my position on this letter,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told reporters on Tuesday after a visit to the Olivais Sul children’s center in Lisbon.
On the other hand, the head of state confirmed that on Tuesday he will decide on the package of seven resolutions he received from the Assembly of the Republic, including on the IRS, representing a “global explanation”, in principle “by the end of the year.”
According to the President of the Republic, “the reading is clearly political” and is connected with negotiations on the state budget for 2025.
Asked whether his assessment was linked to budget negotiations, he replied: “That’s something you’ll see, but you’ve already figured out that it is.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that, in addition to the seven decrees of the Assembly of the Republic, he is analyzing “two more diplomas on various issues from the government” that were received between Monday and today.
“I want to see if I can decide yet [hoje] “About nine, not seven. Let’s see if I can do it,” he added.
Of the seven decrees of the Assembly of the Republic awaiting a decision by the head of state, five were approved by the opposition with votes against the two parties supporting the minority SDP/CDU-PP government, on issues such as the IRS, VAT and the abolition of tolls.
The Assembly of the Republic sent a letter on Friday to the President of the Republic asking him to testify before the parliamentary commission investigating the case of Portuguese-Brazilian twins with spinal muscular atrophy who were treated with Zolgensma at the Santa Maria Hospital.
The request was made by Chega, BE and IL and was approved on 4 June by votes also of the PSD and Livre deputies, with the PS and PCP deputies abstaining.
According to the Legal Regime of Parliamentary Investigations, “The President of the Republic, as well as former Presidents of the Republic, by virtue of facts of which they have become aware in the exercise of their functions and in connection with them, have the right, if they wish, to testify before a parliamentary inquiry committee, and in this case, if they prefer, it is their prerogative to do so in writing.”
Asked by reporters about the request, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that “it must be [coisa] at a time” and that he is now focused on making decisions about the degrees he has earned.
“I have already said about this, it will be next week,” he repeated.
On December 4 last year, following TVI’s reporting on the case, the President of the Republic confirmed that his son Nuno Rebelo de Sousa had contacted him by email in 2019 about the situation of two Portuguese-Brazilian twins with spinal muscular atrophy, who were later treated at the Santa Maria Hospital.
On this occasion, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa reported on the correspondence that had been exchanged in the Presidency of the Republic in response to his son’s letter sent to the Attorney General’s Office, and stated that he had given the matter “the most neutral order”, like many others, by handing over this file to the government.
In May, on Chegi’s initiative, a parliamentary commission was created to investigate the matter.