BE says Secretary of State concluded 'exactly the opposite' from Costa

“The Prime Minister spent the whole afternoon in parliament defending that the Secretary of State for Agriculture had the political and ethical conditions to continue. A few minutes after the debate, the very, well, concluded the exact opposite, ”said Pedro Filipe Soares in a post on the social network Twitter.

Secretary of State for Agriculture Carla Alves tendered her resignation today because she believes she does not have the "political and personal conditions" to take office, a day after taking office.

This resignation came to light after the debate on the no-confidence motion of the IL, which was rejected today in parliament, the case of the Secretary of State being one of the subjects under discussion.

It was precisely during the period when the leader of BE, Catarina Martins, asked for clarifications, that the Prime Minister, António Costa, maintained that the Secretary of State for Agriculture was not accused in the legal proceedings. and invoked the principles of law, wondering whether to dismiss the wife because the husband is accused in a criminal case.

"Oh gentlemen, let's see this: civilization in the world of Justice has taken many centuries to build and there is no leftist populism that makes me shake my convictions on the principles of the rule of law", did he declare.

Afterwards, the Prime Minister added that the government had already asked the Secretary of State whether or not “the joint account contained the amounts which the newspaper claims are included in the prosecution's indictment”.

"What we're told is no, it's a joint account where only labor income is included," he said.

Costa also added that the executive questioned the secretary of state if there was "any doubt about the tax returns he made on his income", with the secretary of state noting that he said " all the tax revenue" he provided.

“There is one thing that I also have no doubt about: if Republican ethics are offended, the Secretary of State will be fired as if I ever offend Republican ethics, I will resign myself”, he assured.

Catarina Martins said that reading the newspapers, she could only “think that it would be difficult for a PS government to do as many favors for the right as this government does”.

"With each file that is closed, with each appointment that is made, a new file is opened", criticized Catarina Martins.

The Blockist coordinator asked if “it is not at least absolutely reckless the way the government has handled the appointments and responsibilities of its members”.

JF (TA) // JPS