The decision was communicated this Wednesday in a Admiralty Board meeting. The admiral has also transmitted this information to the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melo.
Admiral Gouveia e Melo informed the Admiralty Council that he is unavailable to continue two more years as head of the Navy’s General Staff, ending his term in December, military sources told Lusa.
The admiral also has already transmitted this information to the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melothe same sources told Lusa.
Contacted by the Lusa agency, Admiral Gouveia e Melo rdeclined to make any comment on the process and stressed that the meetings of the Admiralty Board “are secret”. The Ministry of National Defense has also said nothing on the matter so far.
On Wednesday, the process of appointing the next Chief of the General Staff of the Navy (CEMA) formally began. The Basic Organic Law of the Organization of the Armed Forces (LOBOFA) establishes that the chiefs of staff of the branches are appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic, upon proposal from the Government.
This proposal must be preceded by a hearing, by the Minister of National Defense, of the chief of the General Staff of the Amadas Forces (CEMGFA). CEMGFA speaks at this meeting after hearing the Superior Council of the respective branch, which, in the case of the Navy, is the Admiralty Council.
The process, according to law, must be initiated by the executive“whenever possible, at least one month before the position becomes vacant, in order to allow the immediate replacement of the respective holder”.
