Advisor to justice minister brought down by social media history
Social media posts have seen to it that a second nomination to Portugal’s centre right government has fallen by the wayside.
Patrícia Cerdeira managed less than eight hours in her new post as an advisor to Justice Minister Rita Júdice. The reason? Quite recent social media history in which she slated the performance of the Public Prosecution’s Office (regarding Operation Influencer), going as far in one case as to call public prosecutors “idiots”.
None of this appears to have been taken into account before her appointment. The posts were found by journalists of Correio da Manhã who, on ‘confronting Ms Cerdeira’, appear to have prompted her departure.
At the outset, the former advisor to Socialist ministers, and one-time journalist herself (for RTP), argued that the posts were simply expressions of how she felt. “We all have a right to a personal life and our own convictions. Work life is separate”, she is quoted as having told CM. “But a few hours later, she confirmed her resignation”, says the paper.
Ms Cerdeira’s exit follows that of Patrícia Dantas – also following an exposé by Correio da Manhã.
