A thought-provoking opinion article appeared in tabloid Correio da Manhã today, reminding us all that since the high-profile move of the PJ criminal police national director into government last month, his former post has remained unfilled.
There was so much ‘furore’ over the political correctness (or otherwise) of Luís Neves career progression, that very little time appears to have been spent on discussing who will be taking his place at the PJ – and, more to the point, when.
“The political silence on the subject is almost deafening”, writes ‘top reporter’ Tânia Laranjo. “In a country where the importance of combating corruption and economic crime is repeated to exhaustion, one would expect that the head of the principal police investigative force would have been dealt with as an absolute priority. It hasn’t been.
“What one sees is a strange cross-party tranquility, as if the absence of the PJ national directorship was not a serious problem for the function of justice. Perhaps a police force that is too autonomous and efficient has never been comfortable for those that live close to power.
“The truth is simple: when vigilance weakens, the system gives a sigh of relief. And perhaps it is this relief that explains so much silence…”
Opinion columns like this may push the subject back into the public eye.
It is over two weeks since Luís Neves was appointed Minister of Internal Administration – and it is true, very few column inches have been spent on likely successors.
Justice minister Rita Alarcão Júdice did tell journalists on February 22 that ‘no decision has yet been made’. Luís Neves’ substitution “will be done in its time, in coordination with the prime minister”, she told Público.
According to the paper, the most likely choice is José Monteiro – currently in charge of the PJ in Braga, and the brother of a former advisor to the PM, Jorge Monteiro, who is now the Portuguese ambassador in Maputo.
Público adds that whoever is chosen is likely to be someone the prime minister ‘trusts’ – which, bearing in mind CM’s comment piece today, sounds vaguely compromising.
Source material: Correio da Manhã/ Público
