Portugal’s Minister for Culture resigned today after a row and subsequent calls for his head after he threatened two journalists with a good slapping.
João Soares, the son of the former president Mário Soares, is no great loss to culture nor current politics if reports of his cronyism are correct.
The shame of having the Prime Minister António Costa apologising on his behalf to the journalists will be hard to overcome if Soares wants to return to the Socialist fold.
António Costa said today that this was not the way the government wants to be behaving, at least when it comes to matters of culture.
Soares offered his resignation which gratefully was accepted by the PM who said that ministers must behave as ministers, "I have reminded members of this government, when they are acting as members of the government or when they are at the breakfast table, they must not fail to remember that they are members of the government."
As for the journalists, Dr Pulido Valente and Augusto Seabra, the PM said he had the highest esteem for Valente and a high regard for Seabra.
An online petition today was set up demanding Soares’ resignation but this was not needed after all, saving the embarrassment of a public discussion about the minister’s performance, or lack of.
Soares came under fire early on in his four month brief by replacing the head of the Belém Cultural Center with one of his own chums, a point highlighted by the press.
Augusto Seabra was under no doubt that Soares was in post as Minister for Culture due to his famous father and not due to his ability. Seabra wrote that the Soares appointment was just like the bad old days of socialist government and Soares only got the job as he is part of ‘a brotherhood of socialists and Freemasons.’
Soares, sensing the row was escalating, this afternoon sent a text message to one of the newspapers which read, "I am a peaceful man, I have never hit anyone. I did not react to opinions, I reacted to insults. I apologise if I scared them." This did little to calm the affair.
Soares' resignation leaves the door open at the Ministry of Culture for an appointee based on their merits, not on their name.
Comments
Now witness how the Panama Papers are treated here! As an excuse to gawp at developed countries leadership being caught out. Total silence about their own elites like the Soares family as absolutely no one, not even tax officers, are allowed to check on their elites tax affairs.
Not the slightest awareness that the battle needs to be fought within Portugal .. not in chewing over the UK's PM Cameron and the x thousands that may not have been correctly declared. When the Portuguese elite has stolen billions and squirreled it away ... without any notion in Portugal that this money should have been declared to anyone.
To continue the pretence of 'change for the better' one taxman is apparently traveling to the US to gather data on the hundreds of Portuguese individuals and companies involved with Mossack Fonseca. Data that will then be filed away unused.
As todays Espresso tells us - some of the Panama Papers material is already known about and yet was archived 3 years ago by the DCIAP in their investigations into Swissleaks and the consequent collapse of BES!!
Self harming?
Why was his Dad not thrashing some discipline into young Soares when he was still small enough to not fight back?? How else does a Portuguese bring up a puppy if not with unpredictable beatings with whatever implement is nearest and violent shouting? One of our rescue dogs, after a year with us, still cannot be in the same room when we sweep or mop up.