The Minister of Internal Administration, Constança Urbano de Sousa, has offered her resignation which was accepted by the Prime Minister who said the minister asked him to accept her offer as it would 'preserve her personal dignity' - hence, he could not refuse to accept it.
Constança Urbano de Sousa leaves office followed by a trail of black smoke after a summer of fires including two where citizens lost their lives: July 17th at Pedrógão Grande, (65) and last weekend in the north and central regions during which 41 people are known to have perished. The Interior Ministry is in charge of firefighters, the police and civil protection agency, all of which faced sharp criticism after the fires.
The minister also had problems with the police service and latterly the Foreign and Borders Service but her downfall was due to the fires and the two reports commissioned into who was responsible for the Pedrógão Grande fires.
The professionalism of the National Civil Protection Authority has been called into question due to the poorly coordinated response and the appointment of a cadre of new commanders who lacked relevant experience.
She offered to resign shortly after the Pedrógão Grande fires but the PM kept her on. But today, the minister said in her resignation letter that after the fires of recent days "I considered that I didn't have the political and personal conditions to continue in my post."
Despite criticism of his performance, the Authority’s national commander, Rui Esteves, remained in office, only resigning in mid-September due to a controversy over his qualifications.
Last night’s speech by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, made it clear that a ‘new cycle’ was needed which involved cleaning out those responsible for the fires and the poorly coordinated responses.
The resignation of the minister for Internal Administration is the first high-profile head to roll and for the prime minister to maintain some semblance of knowing what he is doing, he needs to pack the tumbril with inefficient managers and fill the basket with their heads.
The PM has been told to restore public confidence in the State’s primary role of keeping its citizens safe - whatever the cost. Hopefully, Constança Urbano de Sousa’s resignation is just the start of this process.
The current deputy minister Eduardo Cabrita will replace Constança Urbano de Sousa, according to a statement released this afternoon by the prime minister's office.
