In his first interview as the elected President of the European Council, António Costa responded to the statements made by the Attorney General, who told RTP that the Prime Minister only resigned because he wanted to. In his response, Costa stressed that he does not share the same ethical standards as Lucília Gago.
Speaking to the television channel Now, when asked about Lucília Gago’s statements, António Costa stated that on November 7, 2023, when searches were carried out in São Bento as part of Operation Influencer and after a statement from the PGR reporting the existence of suspicions involving the Prime Minister, investigated in an independent process, “knowing what he knew, he would make the same decision”, that is, he would resign from his position.
“The role of Prime Minister was incompatible with the suspicion that existed,” he argued. When confronted with Lucília Gago’s words that she only left office because she decided to do so, Costa was harsh in his response: “Everyone assumes their responsibilities and everyone has their own ethical standards and demands, and we clearly do not have the same standards.”
Regarding the position of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who refused the name of Mário Centeno to replace Costa as head of the Executive, moving towards the dissolution of the Assembly, António Costa recalled that “prime ministers in Portugal are not elected”, regretting the decision of the Head of State.
Still, he assured that relations with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa are solid since “one thing is a person disagreeing, another thing is the relationship” between them.
Regarding Justice, the now President of the European Council also criticized the constitution of Fernando Medina as a defendant within the scope of Operation Tutti Fruti, stressing that he found it “bizarre that a person should be constituted as a defendant for the granting of a subsidy that he did not grant”.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
