The Frog and the Scorpion: The frog doesn’t say yes or no. And meanwhile he hears Cavaco, the scorpion – Opinion

It is certain that, at this moment, anything Costa says about the calls on the night of the 26th will end up sacrificing one of his own, either the Minister or the Secretary of State. But in the absence of a Solomonic decision, the Prime Minister has voted to remain silent and that may be what makes him sink.

Wednesday, António Costa went to Parliament, as expected. But not to the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into TAP, as requested. The deputies’ questions were direct and repeated. António Costa’s evasions were effective, but confusing. And those who are watching everything, waiting for answers, were left wondering if it was really Mendonça Marques who suggested that the Ministry of Infrastructure should mobilize the SIS. But, however, neither was it certain that the Assistant Secretary of State had not done so. Costa’s desire to evade questions was such that he managed to bring more confusion to the table, to a case that is nothing short of simple. At one point he even managed to involve the President of the Republic, to then correct the hand.

And the Prime Minister can say as many times as he wants that it was “a merely ordinary operation and that, as a rule, the SIS does not inform the Prime Minister of the operations before they are carried out”, which we all know what is at stake is knowing who informed the SIS. And not who the SIS informed.

Costa can devalue and ask not to go into “the details of the hours and hours”, which we all know is where many of the inconsistencies have resided. And, finally, the socialist leader can even go on to say that journalists are the ones who “mess up a little bit of everything”, which is not why someone is less confused by what is going on.

In the parliamentary debate, from the questions that he did not escape, António Costa managed to dodge. He said he has seen preparatory meetings too many times, ignoring what is really at stake. And he defended the maintenance of the SIS team. To the questions that bothered him the most, he responded, counterattacking, with the “virus of populism”. Not even Rui Tavares, known for his parliamentary cordiality, escaped and was accused by the Prime Minister of being influenced by the extreme right. It’s just that populism usually doesn’t walk alone.

António Costa’s silence was not limited to Galamba and Mendonça Marques. Also the Tutti-Frutti case, which joins Medina and Duarte Cordeiro. received the same treatment from the Prime Minister. Escapes and devaluations. It is already known that António Costa has the mantra of attributing “to justice what belongs to justice, and to politics what belongs to politics”. But politically, António Costa’s judgment has been lacking. In this case, not only did he not condemn, but he said he maintained political confidence “in all Ministers”.

For Costa, all this is “little rodriguinhos”, he has devalued the seriousness of the succession of cases of recent times. And, once again, Wednesday rehearsed an escape forward and wanted to refocus the discourse on the country’s economy. But the country knows that there is only a healthy economy after the house is put in order and it is becoming very degraded.

Cavaco Silva spoke again and, as usually happens, the country fell silent to hear him. In a single lethal sting, he accused the Government of being incompetent, lying and hypocritical and of using State resources to interfere in its own cause. This week’s scorpion has the ability to make everyone fight each other every time he speaks and use his barbs as weapons. This time was not different.

After Cavaco Silva’s intervention on Saturday, everyone thought that this scorpion had poisoned the socialist majority. And, from the reactions of some socialists, one could well guess that. Like, for example, Porfírio Silva calling Cavaco Silva a reactionary, and Brilhante Dias saying that Cavaco had been captured by the extreme right.

But this live speech came after a live speech from Montenegro. After successive microphones pointed at the Liberal Initiative. Now, if it takes an intervention by Cavaco Silva to shake the governance of António Costa, the right will have to do an examination of conscience and finally understand where it is. And if you are, as you say, ready to be alternative.

On the other hand, there were those who had no doubt that this was the greatest proof of support for Montenegro and a sign that elections are just around the corner. And that, in this electoral mirage, the PSD squares will be filled with avalanches of crosses.

It seems that, according to Expresso, Cavaco’s speech was also listened to in Belém. But the perspective on those sides is that “with Cavaco’s overlap, Montenegro’s discourse ceases to exist”. “The word of the patron who embodies the opposition comes into force over him”.

In São Bento we do not know how the intervention was received, but we know that Costa and Cavaco are not that different. Even if neither one nor the other admit it. The absolute majorities, both of them, were and are being killed from within. And around one, and another, cases follow one another, and those around them are constantly involved in scandals. And both refuse to stop trusting them.