Parliament summons secret services chief over threats posed by far-right movement

The Constitutional Affairs Committee today unanimously approved a request from the Left Bloc for an urgent hearing with the Secretary-General of the Internal Security System (SSI) regarding threats from far-right movement MAL (Movimento Armilar Lusitano).

The hearing with Patrícia Barão – focused on the functioning of the Anti-Terrorism Coordination Unit (UCAT) – will take place behind closed doors and, according to MPs from all parties, comes after “very serious security failures” against the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and former President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, among other political figures, became known.

In presenting his request, Fabian Figueiredo of the Bloco de Esquerda stated that the list of targets of the armed far-right group included members of parliament, headquarters of left-wing parties, and humanitarian associations such as SOS Racismo and Casa do Brasil.

“We want to know what will be done for the future. What happened cannot be repeated. We have to end the backroom culture among the different entities responsible for security,” he said, recalling that the Prime Minister and his security detail were unaware of the threats and that there was later an attempt by different entities in the security sector to evade responsibility.

The vice-president of the PSD parliamentary group, António Rodrigues, endorsed Figueiredo’s statements, as did CDS MP, João Almeida.

Both considered that Fabian gave a “clean” presentation on the reasons behind his party’s request.

António Rodrigues made a point of noting that Patrícia Barão was not the SSI Secretary-General when the investigation into MAL took place.

“But this issue needs to be clarified, within the limits of judicial secrecy,” he agreed.

Socialist MP Isabel Moreira also agreed with Fabian Figueiredo’s request, stating that the current Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves, was involved in the investigation of this far-right group while serving as the former national director of the PJ (Judicial Police).

“The minister has warned of the existence of a dangerous armed far-right whose objective is to attack the democratic rule of law,” she said.

Speaking for CHEGA, MP Ricardo Lopes Reis said he agreed with holding an urgent hearing with the SSI head, stressing that his party “has no affinity with either extreme.”

The only controversial note occurred when former president of Iniciativa Liberal, Rui Rocha, accused socialist MPs Eva Cruzeiro and Isabel Moreira of having disseminated a manipulated video on social media. This video purportedly showed that Rui Rocha was surprised when the Minister of Internal Administration stated that the far-right represents a more serious threat to security than the far-left.

In her response, Eva Cruzeiro rejected any suggestion of disrespect towards other members of parliament and argued that the video in question was primarily satirical.

Source: LUSA

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.