João Relvas / LUSA
The Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves
Emails dated April show that António Pombeiro was already critical of the appointment of Paulo Viegas Nunes to SIRESP when he submitted his first resignation request.
Internal documents revealed by call into question the official version of the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) regarding Antonio Pombeiro’s first request for dismissal. E-mails show that the president already associated his departure with disagreements with the model defended by Major General Paulo Viegas Nunes for SIRESP and the system’s growing rapprochement with the military sphere.
In a statement released this Monday, MAI guaranteed that the first resignation request, presented on April 28, occurred before the choice of Paulo Viegas Nunes was known to lead SIRESP and that the reasons were different from the second resignation request.
However, emails exchanged between António Pombeiro and members of Minister Luís Neves’ office show that the name of Major General already appeared directly associated to the criticisms of the deputy secretary general.
The exchange of messages began on April 24, when a deputy minister asked for changes in a report on strengthening the emergency communications system, including clarifications on the migration of SIRESP infrastructures to Army installations and interoperability with the military communications system.
In the response sent four days later, Antonio Pombeiro demonstrated discomfort with requested changes and directly criticized the model defended by Paulo Viegas Nunes. As he wrote, the transfer of SIRESP’s central structures to military installations “indicated a attempt to concentrate network management in the military sphere”, creating a dependence on the Defense area without “relevant operational value”.
The official also suggested that the questions asked by the ministerial office would originate from comments by Viegas Nunes himself. In the same email, he formally announced his intention to step down. “I inform you that I will request my dismissal from my duties which I currently perform, according to the attached document. I do it consciously, determinedly and without any ambiguity”, he wrote.
The messages also reveal references to alleged irregularities related to public contracts, conflicts of interest and the actions of former SIRESP technical managers. António Pombeiro also mentions audits by the General Inspectorate of Finance that will have identified “anomalous situations”.
According to CNN Portugal, the dismissal request was signed before sending the email to the ministerial office, but ended up not being accepted at the time. The deputy secretary general presented a new request to leave on May 22, precisely on the day the government confirmed the appointment of Viegas Nunes.
In response, the MAI reiterated “absolute confidence” in the major general and stated that all situations related to contracts and conflicts of interest were duly scrutinized by the General Finance Inspectorates. The ministry also assumed that it was “fully aligned” with the model of reinforced cooperation between SIRESP and the Armed Forces defended by Viegas Nunes.
