"No, I will not ask for a resignation," said Portugal’s Minister of Home Affairs, Constança Urbano de Sousa, answering questions in parliament during a debate to discuss the conclusions of the report into the July fire at Pedrógão Grande.
The minister stood by the commander and senior National Civil Defence Authority managers who were criticised in the damning report submitted yesterday by Independent Technical Committee, chaired by João Guerreiro, the former rector of the University of the Algarve.
The Independent Technical Commission found that many events and communications were not recorded, which is obligatory by law. This was due to an order from the national commander of the National Civil Protection Authority, Albino Tavares (2nd National Operational Commander at the time of the fires.)
Calls for the minister's resignation were answered in the same vein despite her knowledge that those under her, allegedly failed in their responsibilities and 64 people died as a result of poor firefighting intelligence and a lack of early warnings given to villagers in the fire’s path.
The document states that people should have been evacuated from their villages in a timely manner, that there have been faults in the fire department's actions, that the SIRESP emergency communication system is based on outdated technology and that presence of authorities, politicians and the media near the operational command post disrupted fightfighting management’s efforts.
Despite having due warning of the debate and plenty of time to read the report, Constança Urbano de Sousa said that drawing conclusions less than 24 hours from the report’s publication could not be considered a serious request.
"I am not going to draw conclusions from news reports based on single paragraphs taken out of context,” said the minister, adding that "no one had the opportunity to read seriously and carefully the report from the independent commission.”
Notes on the report that were issued yesterday by the committee led Constança Urbano de Sousa to admit "that there were failures", but she stressed that these have been dragging on for years and trying to sidestep the issue by referring to the government’s current work on forest reform.
In the debate the Social Democrats repeatedly asked the Government to apologise to the public about what happened in June at Pedrógão Grande, with the CDS-PP demanding the minister’s resignation.
The report, according to Social Democrats MP, Luis Marques Guedes, is the first step in the path of justice for families, and there is now no room "to delay or evade the assumption of responsibilities."
"The state has failed" and it is up to the prime minister "to apologise on behalf of the state," said the MP, adding that the PSD will call for compensation for the victims’ families.
Socialist MP, Fernando Rocha Andrade, said it was clear that there had been operational failures, but regretted that the "only concern of the PSD is that someone be pilloried."
The Left Bloc and The Greens agreed that it was too early to draw firm conclusions from a report that was presented less than a day ago.
The PSD and CDS-PP MPs said it was exactly the right time to discuss what happened at Pedrógão Grande, which, according to MP Nuno Magalhães, resulted from incompetence. "Starting with yours, Minister," he said, adding that the government is planning to fire the head of the national Civil Protection Association, which the CDS-PP opposes.
