PSD votes to investigate the execution of “secrets” and considers its own initiative

The parliamentary leader of the SDP said on Monday that the party would vote for Chega and I.L. requests for the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate the activities of the “secretaries” and is considering its own initiative.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the first meeting of the PSD Parliamentary Days, which take place from Monday to Tuesday in Funchal, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento noted that “insurmountable divisions” remain within the government regarding the decision to initiate SIS to retrieve a computer from the Ministry of Infrastructure, on the night of April 26 .

“We expected the prime minister to clarify what actually happened, whether he knew that night about what happened, how the information services were used and whether they were used within the framework of the law,” he said, believing that such did not have. hasn’t happened so far.

Asked if PSD would support the proposals already submitted by Chega and IL to a commission of inquiry on the matter, Miranda Sarmento replied that the Social Democrats would “vote yes” but had not yet made a commitment on their own initiative. (The Social Democrats are the only party that has enough deputies to be able to impose a parliamentary inquiry even against the will of the PS).

“We will consider whether to represent him or not. Much remains to be clarified, the prime minister will have a debate on common policy on Wednesday in Parliament, perhaps this will be an opportunity to clarify the huge contradictions to the Portuguese, and then we will evaluate whether we will make this parliamentary initiative or not,” he said.

At the beginning of the month, the Liberal Initiative proposed the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the activities of the SIS with the aim of “ascertaining the political, legal or other responsibility associated with the performance” of this service in restoring the computer used by former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Frederico Pinheiro.

The Liberals also want Parliament to investigate “the practice of the current government with regard to the intelligence services, namely, whether it is customary or customary to issue guidelines, orders, directions or directives, so that they carry out their own and exclusive actions of subjects with police functions.”

Last week, Chega made a SECOND proposal to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to assess the “legitimacy and political responsibility” in the restoration of the computer of former Assistant Minister Joao Galamba and the existence of “political interference” in the activities of the SIS in the past.

The Prime Minister denied this Monday that there is a contradiction between his version that he did not know in advance about the work of the SIS (Security Information Service) in the recovery of the computer from the Ministry of Infrastructures and the statements of Minister Joao Galamba.

In front of reporters, António Costa also rejected PSD President Luis Montenegro’s request to dismiss the Secretary General of the Information System of the Portuguese Republic (SIRP), Graça Ambassador Mira Gomes, noting that the SIRP Supervisory Board had already concluded that SIS “acted in accordance with the law” in the case with a computer with classified information, which was in the possession of Frederico Pinheiro, former deputy of the Ministry of Infrastructure.

“I didn’t have any prior information, and I didn’t need to (…) the CCC didn’t tell me anything, no one from the government was informed of anything, nobody from the government gave orders, and even the CCC couldn’t be brought to the attention of [o Governo] about nothing, because this is not the level of guardianship. And what is the nature of the operation? It was just a routine operation, and, as a rule, the secret services do not inform the prime minister about the operations before they are carried out, ”he said.