“What is born crooked late or never straightens”. The old popular saying sums it up perfectly, says Luís Marques Mendes, the case of Reguengos de Monsaraz’s home. In his usual space of opinion, Marques Mendes classified as “regrettable” the entire episode involving the institution where 18 people died following an outbreak of covid-19. In the opinion of the commentator “everything has failed in this process”, starting with inspection and culminating in the interview granted this Saturday to Expresso by Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security.
“This episode of Reguengos’s home is unfortunate in every respect. It is unfortunate before, because as the report made by the Order of Doctors showed, that home was manifestly not prepared to serve the elderly, only that the State failed and did not inspect it ”, he stresses. During the tragedy, Marques Mendes points out, “things didn’t go well either”. The commentator recalls that “the director-general of Health, Graça Freitas, went to the place and was not publicly able to point out an error or a failure, something that the report later points out until exhaustion”.
And for Luís Marques Mendes, the Government is also not benefiting from the management of this case with the interview of the Minister of Labor to Expresso last Saturday. “The interview that Minister Ana Mendes Godinho gave to Expresso yesterday is another deeply regrettable event”, he says. For the commentator, “a minister, with the responsibility of the households to say, for example, that she has not read this report from the Ordem dos Médicos, in addition to also adding other things like that her objective is not to detect what are the responsibilities of these outbreaks, it is a manifestation of enormous insensitivity ”.
Luís Marques Mendes says that Ana Mendes Godinho’s performance as holder of the Solidarity and Social Security portfolio “has been a disappointment” comparing it to a situation of “inadequacy to the job position”: “Everything goes wrong”. In the interview with Expresso, in particular, “it was very unfortunate”. “There was an exercise in social insensitivity and, at the same time, some pride and some lack of responsibility. Everything that should not exist in a minister, much less a minister who is of solidarity and social security ”, he reinforces.
However, she argues that, despite being under fire and some opposition parties have already asked for her resignation following this weekend’s statements, the minister will remain in office. “The Prime Minister is not going to replace it now. She will stay, but she will be more fragile, with less authority and will have less respect from people ”.
It should be remembered that Ana Mendes Godinho’s statements to Expresso, this Saturday, were understood as a devaluation of what is happening in homes. The wave of reactions that has arisen among opposition parties, who demand their presence in Parliament to explain the Monsaraz case, led the minister’s office to issue a statement in which she accused the Express of “decontextualizing” her statements. The newspaper would eventually release the audio of the interview at the end of Saturday.
Government will “heavily penalized” with a possible “Avante!”
In his weekly commentary space at SIC Notícias, Luís Marques Mendes also highlighted the importance of the Government preparing for a second wave of the pandemic. And it launches warnings: “Imagine an outbreak or contagion at the Festa do Avante. If that happens, the Government will be heavily penalized. Because everyone will say they made an exception. The situation is going to be much worse. Everything will be different and from now on, proper preparation is required ”.
Still on the extreme right threats to citizens, deputies or other public figures, he recalls that appealing to racism and making threats is a crisis and that is why the courts must work. He cites as an example of what should not happen the case of Marega, the player from Porto who was the target of racist comments – six months ago, there are still no decisions of the courts, courts or even sports.
Still, there is something clear to the former Social Democratic leader: these acts and threats must be the target of condemnation, contrary to what “some right” thinks. It should be remembered that Rui Rio, president of the PSD, did not comment on the events of the last days, that included a vigil of members of far-right organizations in front of SOS Racism e email threats to lawmakers and activists anti-racism.
Can see ON HERE Luís Marques Mendes’ comment in full.
–
