Fernando Medina, former Minister of Finance, reiterated, this Friday, criticism of his successor, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, arguing that the current ruler should “weigh” his words, which are also “heard abroad” and could affect the “credibility” of the country.
In an interview with SIC Notícias, the current socialist deputy began by defending what he had already said at a press conference yesterday, in a response to the current Minister of Finance, reinforcing that “the public accounts are solid”, as he presented “to the country at the time folder passage”.
“Basically, minister, what did you create? You created a situation of some alarm about the country’s financial situation, confusion about that, but a situation of alarm that, obviously, affects the Portuguese, has an impact on the economy of country, but it is also heard abroad. It is the image of Portugal, it is the rating agencies that listen to it. The Minister of Finance has to weigh his words very carefully before making statements like the ones he makes”, he said, adding that it affects him. the “country’s credibility”.
Fernando Medina reiterated that there are “one of two explanations” for what happened: “Ignorance” and “technical lack of preparation” or “an attempt at political guerrilla warfare”.
Remember that at issue are statements by Miranda Sarmento, who said that “the budgetary situation is much worse than what the previous Government had announced” – which led to an exchange of accusations between the two.
The former Minister of Finance also considered that, “so far”, he has not seen “any governance” from the Executive of the Democratic Alliance (AD). “The Government is elected to govern, to make decisions, some that imply an increase in expenditure, others that imply a reduction in expenditure, some that imply an increase in revenue, others that imply a reduction in revenue, others that strictly imply none of this. That is what is called governing. What we, in fact, have seen so far is that we have not seen any governance”, he pointed out.
“The only attempt at governance was an attempt, essentially a mistake, regarding a decision by the IRS”, added the former mayor.
“I see with great appreciation” manifesto for justice reform
In the same interview, Fernando Medina spoke about the manifesto of 50 personalities on justice, a document that he said he viewed with “great appreciation” and “favorite eyes”.
“I see it well, I see it with great appreciation, I see a manifesto with courage, signed by people of great importance in Portuguese society, who have taken a very clear position on an issue that the parties have been reluctant to take on”, he stated.
“We have a lot of time to discuss concrete cases and we have little time to debate about justice policy. Justice policy must be debated and justice policy is up to sovereignty to discuss. I welcomed this manifesto and the appeal that this reflection is made”, he defended.
Being a deputy, Fernando Medina did not want to directly address the possibility of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) being called to Parliament, however, he argued that the PGR “only benefits from providing as much clarification as possible”.
“It would also be highly beneficial if it were also able to demonstrate and completely dispel that silence is often a corporate defense and not the protection of a legitimate investigation”, he added, criticizing decisions taken, “sometimes, it is not known by whom, within organizations , who send governments down, sent prime ministers down” and that, subsequently, “the entire argument” is destroyed by higher courts.
“And then everything goes back to silence, without any clarification and even without any hearing, after months, from the Prime Minister himself involved [António Costa]. I think this is not natural”, he said, in a reference to ‘Operation Influencer’.
European? “I wasn’t invited”
The former ruler was also faced with the fact that he would not be included on the Socialist Party’s list for the European elections. In a direct response, Medina admitted that he was not invited and noted that he had made “no particular expression of interest” in this regard.
“Objectively, I wasn’t invited,” he said. “I had no particular expression of interest regarding my participation in the European parliament’s lists”, he added.
Read Also: ‘Guerrilla’ in the accounts? What led Sarmento and Medina to exchange criticisms
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