The President of the Republic avoided pronouncing on the model of the visit of the Brazilian President to the Assembly of the Republic, but recalled that the former head of State Cavaco Silva, from a more “conservative” area than Lula da Silva, addressed him “full praise ”.
“People have a short memory, President Lula da Silva has already come to Portugal and was received in the Assembly of the Republic. The President of the Republic Cavaco Silva, from a much more conservative area, was full of praise for Lula da Silva”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told journalists this Monday, in statements broadcast on television, after being questioned about the intention of two parties , Chega and Iniciativa Liberal, to contest the State visit and a possible speech in the April 25 session.
The President was referring to a visit by Lula da Silva in 2011, when he had already left his post as head of state and received the North/South prize from the Council of Europe in a ceremony that took place in the Senate room (and not in the hemicycle) in Assembly of the Republic.
At the time, Cavaco Silva compared Lula to “great leaders” who “distinguish themselves by their ability to translate ideals into concrete achievements and mobilize hope”. Lula da Silva was re-elected to the post last October, after serving a prison sentence for corruption.
Regarding the possibility of Lula da Silva speaking at the April 25 session, announced by Minister Gomes Cravinho, Marcelo again declined to comment, referring the decision to the Assembly of the Republic.
“An invitation has been formulated, let’s try to make it go well. There are those who don’t like it or like it a lot for reasons of internal politics and not of national interest”, he said, at the end of a ceremony at the Instituto Superior Técnico, without answering the question about whether the Brazilian head of state should speak at the April 25 session. or if in another session: “Let’s see how the State visit will be processed”.
The President of the Republic was also urged by journalists to clarify whether he was referring to political consequences for the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, generated by the report by the General Inspectorate of Finance on the departure of the former Secretary of State from the TAP administration, taking a compensation of 500 thousand euros.
“The consequences are legal and not political. What is at stake is according to the conclusions of the report. [Se irá] whether or not there are illegalities, it has to be seen what the illegality is and what the legal reaction is as a result of these illegalities”, he said.
Asked whether he left the door open for the Government Minister to leave, Marcelo reiterated that the decision on what to do is in Medina’s hands: “I said it and I repeated it again. Having decided to open the inquiry, the minister waits for the report and decides on the report.”