PS requests urgent hearing by Luís Neves and former MAI Secretary-General

O PS today requested the urgent parliamentary hearing of the Minister of Internal Administration and the former Secretary-General of the Internal Administration to clarify “the grounds of decision” of the ruler to dismiss Ricardo Carrilho and questions raised about SIRESP.

On Monday, in a first reaction to this controversy, the PS leader, José Luís Carneiro, had told journalists that he agreed that Luís Neves should be heard in Parliament to clarify all questions about the decision to dismiss Ricardo Carrilho from the position of Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Administration.

“ It is therefore necessary for the Minister of Internal Administration to clarify the grounds for this decision, including the episodes now invoked by the Government, and the questions raised regarding the management and financing of the SIRESP network, and also to be heard by the former Secretary-General, as the author of the statements in question”, can be read in the request of the PS Parliamentary Group to which the agency Lusa had access.

The PS wants these hearings to be held urgently, detailing that the request to listen to Ricardo Carrilho is “invited”.

Members of the PS make, in the request, the film of the events of this resignation and state that “the two reports of the Government have different grounds for the same decision”, the reorganization of the service, at first, and the lack of confidence, in a second.

“ On the other hand, the versions of the Government and the former Secretary-General coincide with the existence of differences on the payment of compensation to SIRESP, S.A., although with opposite readings as to its basis and its consequences”, it can be read in the text.

Having this matter “obvious public relevance”, for socialists, one should not “formulate judgments on the veracity of statements from part to part or on any responsibilities”.

“ The legality and control of public expenditure associated with the SIRESP network – critical infrastructure for emergency and security communications of the State –, the smooth functioning of the IAM services and the conditions under which the Public Administration’s managers exercise their technical skills are concerned. It is also a question of the grounds for a decision to terminate duties in an unusual context, in which the temporal coincidence between the decision and the differences now made public requires a full clarification of the questions raised by both parties”, they justify.

On Monday, the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) announced that the secretary-general of that ministry, Ricardo Carrilho, ceased functions by determination of Minister Luís Neves.

Later, the now former MAI Secretary-General considered the dismissal “an act of retaliation” and accused the Minister of Internal Administration of “illegal pressures” and “an asphyxiating political interference”.

Following these statements, the minister issued a statement in which he justified the resignation of the Secretary-General with “break of trust” resulting from situations, including some “of particular gravity”, that “committed the functioning of the services”.

Luís Neves accused Ricardo Carrilho of having in recent months “a permanent attitude of confrontation, seeking, by all means, to harm the functioning of SIRESP” and, “in full time of fires, extinguished the Operations and Management Center (COG) of SIRESP – the “nevralgic center” of the emergency communications network – without the protection, without presenting alternative solutions”.