The President of the Republic stated this Thursday that it is important to clarify the facts surrounding INEM’s response during the recent strike and determine any administrative and political responsibilities. He emphasized the need to investigate why the situation occurred, who was responsible but failed to act, and who may have acted incorrectly.
Administrative and Political Accountability
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declared that both an administrative and political level must determine it, speaking to journalists at a hotel in Cuenca, Ecuador, where he is attending the 29th Ibero-American Summit. And if the authorities ascertain the facts and identify the responsibilities, they should assume them.
The head of state added that it was unfair to accuse him of not intervening in this case, as he had done in the past. He explained that his priority was to first call for the resolution of the issues at hand.
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The President Defends His Actions
When asked if he believed there were administrative and political responsibilities in the INEM case, the President of the Republic responded that we’ll see. He continued:
If there are administrative and political responsibilities, there are administrative and political responsibilities. I once used, in relation to the Tancos case, an expression that was considered very excessive at the time, which is: come what may. Basically, I mean, looking at the plans in which we should have acted, did not act, acted badly or acted late.
Response to Accusations of Inaction
When asked about accusations of not intervening in the case involving Minister of Health Ana Paula Martins, as he had done with other ministers during the previous PS government, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa responded:
I think that is very unfair, because I was one of the first to speak out. No one had yet spoken out, particularly from the area of power, when I said: what is happening is unsustainable, a quick response must be found, and that is the priority.
According to the President of the Republic, the appeal he made in this case for resolving the problems was similar to his initial response to the 2017 fires. saying:
I said the following: let’s understand each other first, let’s solve the problem. Exactly as I said when that first wave of fires came in 2017: let’s first put out the fires and then we will investigate what happened and determine who is responsible.
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Investigation and Accountability in the INEM Case
In a second moment, the President of the Republic stated that it is necessary to investigate what happened in the INEM case. He added:
What happened in terms of, knowing that there was a strike by emergency medical technicians, not avoiding the strike. Or, not being possible to avoid the strike, not preventing the effects of the strike. Not looking at INEM’s capacity, not looking at the need to multiply this capacity, precisely because of the emergency situation that was being experienced. And the response capacity, in a given period, did not exist.
This has to be investigated, the head of state reinforced, also adding that responsibilities must be identified.
