Chega’s leader, André Ventura, said this Monday (March 16) that his party will ask for full disclosure of the agreement made by the Bank of Portugal for Mário Centeno’s “multimillion-dollar” reform. And he accused the current governor, Álvaro Santos Pereira, of having proposed the departure of his predecessor, the institution’s current consultant, “just for shadowing him”.
Reaffirming that the Chega parliamentary group maintains the potential request, and urgently, for the hearing of the governor of the Bank of Portugal, André Ventura took advantage of a press conference, at the party headquarters, to consider it “a little strange, at least”, that it was Álvaro Santos Pereira who suggested that his predecessor retire.
“There is no plausible reason for this multimillion-dollar reform,” said the leader of Chegaasking whether other Banco de Portugal consultants will have access to the same type of agreement as António Costa’s former Finance Minister. Regarding Centeno, Ventura stressed that he is “only 59 years old and apparently with his skills intact”.
Despite the reform being paid for through the Banco de Portugal pension fund, the Chega leader reiterated that it is “absolute immorality” and a decision “in which no advantage is seen for the country”. “Whatever one says, it still seems dubious and a very abusive use of public resources,” he concluded.
The press conference, held at Chega’s national headquarters, and with no answers at the end, also served for André Ventura to hold the PS responsible “for the embarrassing impasse” that is blocking the election of external bodies by the Assembly of the Republic. Among other accusations, André Ventura said that the socialists are refusing to allow their party to nominate a judge to the Constitutional Court, and refusing to participate in a joint list for the five representatives of deputies in the Council of State.
On the contrary, Ventura praised the leadership of the PSD and the social-democratic parliamentary group. And, regarding Chega, he assured that he was “always in good faith in his efforts to build alternatives that would not paralyze institutions”which also includes the Ombudsman’s Office and the State Council.
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