Marcelo states that his “personal choice” has been to clarify what he is asked

The President of the Republic considered today that scrutiny of the economic and financial lives of politicians has increased and stated that his “personal choice” has been to clarify what he is asked by the media.

“When I was a member of the government, the issue did not arise. At that time, there was no such public scrutiny. But later, as President of the Republic, they asked specific questions, which I clarified,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told journalists at the Belém Palace.

On this occasion, the head of state was asked about the case of the company owned by the family of the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and about the news of political office holders owning companies in the real estate sector.

Without commenting on these cases, the President of the Republic stated that his “position on these matters, in abstract terms” is known.

“That’s what I think, in the abstract, but it has to do with my personal choice. Everyone has their own different choices,” he noted.

Asked to explain his personal position, the President of the Republic responded: “As you know, I have performed functions that require me to make statements. And I have been asked this question on other occasions by the media, including when I was leader of the PSD”.

“When I was a member of the government, the issue did not arise. At that time, there was no public scrutiny. But later, as President of the Republic, they asked specific questions, which I clarified,” he added.

Asked whether his position contrasts with the Prime Minister's silence, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied: “I'm not going to comment on that.”

In this regard, he considered that “there is now much tighter, much more intense public scrutiny, in which people believe that transparency implies, in fact, bringing to public clarification everything that has to do with the economic and financial life, even past, of those who now exercise political power”.

“This was also much debated in the last government of Prime Minister António Costa, and a form was created. However, this form was for a specific period of time, a short one. And what is essentially being created now is the desire to know before that period of time what happened and what did not happen in economic and financial life,” he said.

In his opinion, “it is very difficult for this increase [in scrutiny] to cease to exist in the near future”.

The President of the Republic noted that “parliament, deputies and the media have formulas for dealing with these issues, which are issues of control and public scrutiny of the economic and financial lives of those who currently hold political power, at a time when they did not”.

“And that is happening, and it will happen,” he added.

Still on this subject, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that the Assembly of the Republic rejected the motion of censure against the Government presented by Chega.

In his opinion, with this vote, parliament “defined a fundamental political position, which is: it does not want there to be a political crisis at this time, it does not want there to be problems with the Government, it wants to guarantee stability”.

For the President of the Republic, “this makes sense”, taking into account that there are “local elections just around the corner, in five and a half months, or six months, and then immediately after, three months later in person, and the two pre-campaigns have already begun”.