Montenegro considers it “extremely normal” that the President of the Republic asks Costa for an explanation about Miguel Alves.

The PSD president said this Thursday that it was “extremely normal” for the President of the Republic to seek clarification from the Prime Minister regarding Deputy Secretary of State Costa, who is under investigation for a decision made when he was mayor of Caminha.

“If the President of the Republic is going to do this, of course, I register. If you ask me if I think this is normal, I think it is very normal. The role of the President of the Republic is to evaluate the conditions in which the members of the government perform their functions,” he said. Luis Montenegro.

The Expresso newspaper reported this Thursday that the President of the Republic wants to take advantage of the weekly meeting with the Prime Minister, scheduled for 18:00, to question António Costa about the controversy surrounding the contract for the construction of a multi-purpose pavilion, which the Secretary of State, Deputy Prime Minister Miguel Alves, in In 2020, he became mayor of Caminha, and in connection with this, the State Ministry is investigating this case.

Speaking to reporters at the West Sea shipyards in Viana do Castelo on the last day of the “Sentir Portugal” initiative in the area, Luis Montenegro recalled that “despite the proposals for the appointment come from the Prime Minister, who is responsible for the appointment and ultimately to rehabilitate members of the government is the President of the Republic”.

Montenegro said the PSD has been demanding “explanations” for a long time, stressing that a request was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on Monday for Miguel Alves to be heard in Parliament.

“I think that the only explanations he has given so far have been insufficient, they were first of all corrupted by the spirit of victimization, which does not help to clarify the situation,” Montenegro said.

Asked about the controversy surrounding ministerial adviser Mariana Vieira da Silva, Montenegro said he did not have “much knowledge about the case” other than what was made public in the press.

“It seems a little strange, but I don’t know the details of the situation. But it seems a little strange to me that a recent graduate, from the point of view of performing public functions, goes to the highest position with experience that is at least clearly insufficient,” he said.

The SDP leader refused to “assess in detail situations of which he does not know”.

“I am not immune from the news, but I will need to understand. Also in this aspect, I think that the parliament will not fail to carry out this check. appropriate remuneration and an organic position in the structure of the government.

The prime minister’s deputy secretary of state, Miguel Alves, is under investigation by the public affairs ministry for a debt contract he signed when he was mayor of Caminha.

At stake is the construction of a cross-border exhibition center in Caminha, in the district of Viana do Castelo, a work that has not yet begun after a debt agreement was signed between the promoter and the municipality in 2020.

Público reported in an October 26 edition that the Municipality of Camigny had made a “questionable advance” of €300,000 on the project in question, sanctioned by the current Deputy Secretary of State to the Prime Minister when he was in charge of that municipality.

The SDP and Chega have already submitted requests to the parliament for an urgent interrogation of the ruler.

On October 31, in statements to journalists, the Prime Minister said he retained political confidence in Miguel Alves.

In an interview with Jornal de Notícias and TSF published on Sunday, Miguel Alves said he initially remained silent because he addressed the first clarifications to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and was equally confident in the legality of the process.