Former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho criticized this Tuesday, February 24, the appointment of Luís Neves as Minister of Internal Administration, considering that the choice represents a “serious precedent” and “is not a good sign”.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Productivity & Innovation Forum, organized by SEDES and AEP, in Matosinhos, Passos Coelho was direct: “You cannot go from director of the Judiciary Police to Minister of Internal Administration. I have a lot of consideration for people, I believe that the Prime Minister’s intention was good, but it is not a good sign”, he stated.
Luís Neves succeeded Maria Lúcia Amaral in the Internal Administration portfolio, after having served as director of the Judiciary Police. For Passos Coelho, the issue is not personal, but institutional. “It can’t be done,” he insisted. And he reinforced the idea that the decision, although well-intentioned, creates a serious precedent: “I am sure that the choice of Prime Minister was based on the best of intentions. But the precedent is serious. You can’t pass. It’s not a good sign.”
The former prime minister, who regained public protagonism with some interventions at conferences in recent weeks, also drew a parallel with another political decision in the past, with the transfer of Centeno to the Bank of Portugal, at the time of the governance of António Costa and the PS: “It was not a good sign to remove a Finance Minister and place him as governor of the Bank of Portugal.”
Leave a Reply