Montenegro expresses “complete confidence” in Rangel and warns the military not to question the “sharing of responsibilities”
It was a defense by Paulo Rangel, but above all a warning so that no one calls into question the “sharing of responsibilities” that exists between politicians and military personnel in Portuguese society. At issue is an episode, which occurred at the Figo Maduro air base, between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Cartaxo Alves, who has already taken the PS and Chega to ask for hearings in Parliament.
“I think it’s silly to create a case here and think that the Government will jeopardize two things: firstly, the credibility and trust in Minister Paulo Rangel in the government and, secondly, – due to inaccuracies in the news – causing an outbreak in Portugal, 42 years after the constitutional review of 1982, which is the division of responsibilities between political power and military power. Those who want to do it will have to do it alone.”said the Prime Minister, in Faro, after the Iberian Summit. The 1982 constitutional revision ended the Revolution Council and established the separation between political power and the Armed Forces.
When asked by journalists whether he maintained confidence in the minister, Montenegro was vehement: “If there is someone here who wants to shake up the Government and shake up the presence of Minister Paulo Rangel in the Government, go train because there is a lot to do.” And, given the insistence of journalists who also questioned him about the critical article by Admiral Silva Ribeiro about the same episode, the Prime Minister immediately started by asking if the former Chief of Staff General of the Armed Forces was there to have knowledge about the matter.
He, Montenegro, said that he knows the episode “in detail”, but declined to talk about it, referring the clarifications to the parliamentary hearing that should take place.
