Chega defends judicial inquiry into ‘possible government interference’ in Banif

Chega’s president considered this Wednesday that the public ministry should investigate “possible government interference” with Banif’s resolution and said a parliamentary inquiry into the “break” in Banco de Portugal was “more than justified”.

“Chege it seems clear that the government of Antonio Costa interfered with the activities of the regulatory body, the Banco de Portugal. [BdP]which should be independent of political power,” Andre Ventura said at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon.

“Yesterday we also learned that in the episode with the Banif resolution, we had another possible intervention of the government of António Costa in the decisions taken, and not only in the information that was sent to Brussels, will not be the same, which was distributed in Portugal, for example, in favor of a company that will later acquire Banif,” he said.

Considering the possibility that “various illegal activities” such as “abuse of power and favoritism” are at stake, the president of Chegi stated that “there seems to be no room for doubt that, given the principle of legality, the Prosecutor’s Office should start an investigation into this.”

“Chega understands that the facts are publicly available, made public, available to everyone, therefore, to initiate an investigation, they do not need either a denunciation or participation in the prosecutor’s office. I think that the Prosecutor General of the Republic and the prosecutor’s office will be able to independently initiate this investigation, which is unlikely to happen given our current legislation,” he said.

Confirming that Chega would put forward a proposal to create a parliamentary commission of inquiry, Andre Ventura stressed that a parliamentary inquiry into “the intervention of the government of António Costa in the sphere of regulation, in the sphere of banking regulation” is “more than justified.”

The party leader considered that “this is an unacceptable interference of political power in the regulator, in the financial market and in the banking sector with unclear goals, possibly in favor, protection and with signs of abuse of power.”

Ventura also said he was still waiting for a response from the SDP for the two parties to move forward with a mandatory commission (which needs at least 46 MPs).

At a press conference this Wednesday, the President of Chega was asked about a new meeting between Interior Minister José Luis Carneiro, the PSP trade unions and the GNR social and professional associations as part of the collective bargaining for pay increases for the security forces.

André Ventura believed that the government should “carry out this renewal” within the state budget, but “has already given clear signs that it is unwilling” to revise the remuneration tables.

Chegi’s leader also indicated that on Tuesday, with his party, “the PS contacted him to give permission for the inclusion of the exceptional rule in the discussion of the state budget, since it arrived after the deadline, and it gave this permission.”

“We thought that these would be some measures related to the meetings that the government is holding with trade union forces from various sectors, the police, teachers, medical workers, etc. And now, this is a regulation aimed at eliminating fines, many of them to leaders the PS itself, involved in the controlling bodies,” he said, considering that the PS “has lost its shame.”