Paulo Valério, who served as a member of the Superior Council of the Public Ministry representing the Assembly of the Republic, resigned from his position this week. The mandate had expired in June, with the entry into office of the current Parliament. However, As happened in other bodies, no new elections were held.
In a post on LinkedIn, the former member, appointed by the Assembly of the Republic in June 2024, wrote that he “patiently” awaited this election, which ended up not happening. “With the inauguration of the current Parliament, which took place in June, my mandate expired, but, due to a transitional regime, I have remained in office, patiently awaiting the election of new representatives. Unfortunately, this did not happen after six long months”, wrote the member, who represented the Socialist Party (PS).
Valério said that the same occurred in other external bodies of the Assembly of the Republic, such as the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Constitutional Court. And he spared no criticism regarding the situation.
“When a transitional regime in this area becomes permanent, what we see is the degradation of the legitimacy of the mandates and, even more so, to the degradation of democratic institutions themselves, starting with Parliament“, he reflected. The former member stressed that “he is not available to be in that photograph”.
“AR blocked”
The lawyer went further and wrote that the Assembly of the Republic is blocked. “Today there is a more or less hidden problem in Portuguese democracy: the Assembly of the Republic is blocked, unable to designate representatives for its external bodies, as it is unable to generate consensus necessary between the various legitimately represented political forces”, he stated.
The then member avoided naming those responsible and said that blame is not the most important thing. “It doesn’t matter who is to blame: It matters that the problem exists and cannot be swept under the rug. As long as this is the case, the normal functioning of institutions is at risk, an issue that would greatly benefit, now, from a clear position on the part of the various candidates for the Presidency of the Republic”, he warned.
He also anticipated that he will leave with several “frustrations”, which he does not intend to reveal for now.. “Over the last year and a half, roughly, I have tried to live up to my responsibilities, in a permanent effort to combine, not always easy, with my professional activity. I leave with a clear conscience, but with several frustrations, which I will talk about in due time”, he assured.
Finally, he defended the Public Ministry, despite recognizing the existence of problems. “The Public Ministry, as such, is not a problem in Portuguese society and this idea must be fought relentlessly. However, there are problems in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as elsewhere — in addition to the scarcity of resources, which is a constant in life — that must be addressed, so that the tree does not become confused with the forest”, he pointed out. Paulo Valério ended the publication with a metaphor: “Following Gresham’s Law, in a metaphor by Cavaco Silva, let the bad currency not drive out the good currency”.