Government will do everything to prevent the Health Minister from leaving (and already has 3 scapegoats)

Cristina Vaz Tomé, Sérgio Janeiro and strikers have targets on their backs. But will it be enough? Or does the opposition “want the head” of Ana Paula Martins?

The Government is preparing to do everything possible to avoid the dismissal of Ana Paula Martins, in a scenario of total health crisis caused by emergency services, the result of a strike at the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), which will have caused more than a dozen deaths.

With the focus of attention, and the target of investigations to find out whether they were caused by delays at INEM, the situation became a testmore for Luís Montenegro than for the Minister of Health.

His words in Parliament, where took responsibility about what “went less well” at INEM, to motivate resignations from various parties.

But his departure, at this point in the championship, would open a breach in the Executive that would show fragility — and Montenegro needs to beat Pedro Nuno Santos’ PS in the upcoming municipal elections to stop its rise.

That’s why, the Government is already looking for scapegoatswith Secretary of State Cristina Vaz Tomé and the president of INEM, Sérgio Janeiro, potential targets to “sacrifice” and, thus, protect the minister.

Guilt doesn’t die single

“It is very difficult for the guilty person to die single”, says a Government source this Thursday.

Cristina Vaz Toméwho supervised INEM before Ana Paula Martins, has been blamed for the lack of preventive action in the face of the strike and for not advancing negotiations until 2026. With the Ministry of Health assuming direct management of Samu, suspicions are growing that the Secretary of State will be the first to be removed: Ana Paula Martins taking control was the Government wanting to say that Vaz Tomé can’t do the job.

Others scandals involving INEM, such as the helicopter case, add to the management failures associated with the position and compromise the image of Vaz Tomé.

O INEMled by Sergio Janeiroalso has responsibilities to weigh, with criticism for the failure to reinforce minimum services during the strike. Although the STEPH union insists that INEM has escaped its responsibilities, the institute had the legal capacity to reinforce services and decided not to do so. January faces additional criticism for the lack of effective action and the controversy intensifies with the actions of unions and workers.

For the Government, the ideal would be for the focus of accountability to fall on the strikersespecially if it is proven that they did not comply with the minimum services.

It now remains to be seen whether the opposition and public opinion will accept this vision.