Marques Mendes announces that the Government will present a “package” for the Economy and says that the minister issued a “death certificate” to the PGR

The Government is preparing to present a comprehensive plan for the Economy. “There are 60 measures that are being finalized†and will be announced next week by the Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis. The information was provided this Saturday by Luís Marques Mendes, in his usual comment space on SIC’s Jornal da Noite.

The key areas of the plan will be innovation, sustainability, trade, tourism, incentives for mergers and concentration of companies so that they can gain scale. “It will be a kind of package,†said the commentator and former leader of the PSD, anticipating that it is a topic that will generate “a lot of attention†next week.

In the comment space, Marques Mendes also addressed the main issues that marked the week, such as the appointment of António Costa for the presidency of the European Council (CE), the opinion article of Aníbal Cavaco Silva in Expresso in which he defends elections to unblock the political impasse, the profile of the new PGR drawn up by the Minister of Justice and also the agreement between the PS and PSD in Justice.

A Confirmation of António Costa to the EC is a “good decisionâ€according to the commentator, firstly for Europe given the former prime minister’s profile of “dialogue†and “negotiation skills†. “There are moments in life when everyone wins and no one loses. There aren’t many moments like these, but this is one of them†, summarized Marques Mendes, recognizing that it is also a positive decision for Portugal, which gains “prestige†and “credibility†with yet another Portuguese person in an important international position.

And here he recognized the role of Luís Montenegro, Costa’s former opponent, who continued to support the former head of the Government for the position, supporting his candidacy for the EC with “conviction†and “enthusiasm†, support that was “determining†for his appointment. “Costa needs to be lucky and use all his capacity for dialogue,†he stressed, anticipating that he could face difficulties in the position if he beats the extreme right in France and Trump, in the USA.

He still recognized the “irony†of the political crisis that ended up benefiting António Costa, who if he were still PM he would not be president of the EC, Montenegro who would not be elected PM and Pedro Nuno Santos would not he would also be general secretary of the PS.

Early election scenario “not desirable”

As for Cavaco Silva’s opinion article in Expresso, the commentator admitted to agreeing “in theory†with the former President of the Republic, when arguing that it will be easier to achieve growth and development with a majority Government river. But in “practice” it is different, as his own governance has shown.

“It wasn’t always like this, Cavaco, in 1985, had a minority government and everyone classified it as popular and effective. Was it a good Government or had there not been a bigger vote afterwards?†he remembered. On the other hand, she stressed, António Costa had a Government with an absolute majority and it was a “disappointmentâ€.

Therefore, he considers that the ideal would be for the current Government to continue until the end of the legislature, since early elections in the short term would give a sign of “instability†and could harm the PRR and maintain almost the same results. “It is not desirable to have early elections in Portugal before 2026, before the presidential elections”, reforçou.

Minister of Justice issued “death certificate†to the PGR

Regarding the minister’s interview Rita Júdice to the ObserverMarques Mendes argued that the ruler passed a “death certificate†to the current Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), LucÃlia Gago, outlining the profile of her successor. It was a “casting error”, it allowed the Public Ministry (MP) to degrade “to levels never seen before” and “it will not be missed”. “This PGR will not remain in history at all†he shot.

Regarding the profile outlined by Rita Júdice, of the need for “leadership†capacity, “communication†and the ability to recover the MP’s “credibility†, the social democrat added another necessary requirement river for LucÃlia Gago’s successor.

“The choice of the next PGR must be made in broad political consensus,†he maintained, pointing to the need to hear all parties before September, when the next PGR will be appointed by the head of State, on a proposal from the Government.

Finally, Marques Mendes praised the pre-announced agreement between PS and PSD in Justice, pointing to the merit of Pedro Nuno Santos presenting “concrete ideas†and of Montenegro having put “partisanship†aside. Which means that the country could have a pact for Justice, which must have three priorities in its vision: ensuring that “there is no interference from politics and politicians in criminal investigation†, ensuring that “the investigation the criminal is carried out within the law and with greater efficiency” and, at the same time, ensure that freedom of information is respected. “Journalists are not responsible for violations of judicial secrecy. Someone “gives” them information – the MP, the police or the lawyers. Responsibilities cannot be confused,” he warned.