There were two things that the President of the Government overlooked in the statements he made this Tuesday about the resignation of Minister Marta Temido: the ruler was at the limit and will have set a “red line” to continue in the Government. Among the selective explanations that he gave to the journalists, António Costa wanted to say, at one point, that it was not the first time that Feared had hesitated in the portfolio, presenting reasons for leaving the Government. “I did not feel in a position to not respect and accept the request this time.”
On what other occasions did the minister make the same request? Coast refused to answer. During the statements, he limited himself to saying that Marta Temido presented reasons that “this time” she considered acceptable, stating that she understands that “someone establishes as a red line the existence of deaths that occur in services that are under her tutelage” . Thus, he abandoned the idea that the minister who, at the beginning of the crisis in obstetric emergencies, had already faced the death of a baby in Caldas da Rainha in June, had already wanted to leave the Government in the past. This Monday, CNN Portugal reported on the death of a pregnant woman at the Hospital São Francisco Xavier e Costa admits that the case “was the straw that broke the camel’s back” for the minister.
“Being a member of the Government is very demanding and there are portfolios in which the exercise of these functions is especially exhausting, from the personal and affective point of view”. Above all, said Costa, “for those who were ministers of health” during a pandemic.
Even so, in the explanations he has given this afternoon, the Prime Minister has assured that this decision by Feared was not expected now and that he needs time to find someone to replace him in office. But in this waiting period there are still other reasons, which he explained in detail. The first is that she will be out of the country, on an official visit to Mozambique, where she is leaving tonight and from where she will return next Saturday. The second is the final work for the preparation of the package of measures to support family income that will be approved next Monday by the extraordinary Council of Ministers.
In addition, António Costa wants Marta Temido to finalize the regulations for the new executive directorate of the SNS, which he says is “one of the fundamental pieces” of the reform in the area —and here he even recalled that the President of the Republic himself asked that don’t waste time on implementation: “It’s better to finish this work in progress, and then, of course, get on with our lives.” He admitted, however, that this could happen before September 15, the date for which the approval of the Council of Ministers was expected, taking into account the situation involving the still minister.
But the leader of the Government says that Feared’s resignation does not contaminate the reform that he will face after having said that he wants to leave the Executive. “The diplomas are from the government and not from politician A or B,” Costa said when asked by journalists about the minister’s political fragility at this stage. And he even launched into the opposition: “Whoever wants policy changes has to overthrow the government.”
As for the succession, he swears he hasn’t thought about it yet. Time to leave for Mozambique and between sectoral meetings to finalize the package of measures that he will present next week, Costa does not even want to talk about the profile. And when he asks him what profile of minister he wants, he simply launches the equation of who he could be “you shouldn’t be limiting in terms of gender”. “You’ll see soon,” he says, throwing the question at “an opportune moment.”
Source: Observadora
