Accident. Marcelo says Moedas is "responsible"
The President of the Republic stated categorically this Sunday that Carlos Moedas bears "political responsibility" for the accident at the Elevador da Glória. "Anyone who holds a political office" is always "politically responsible for the exercise of that office," said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. However, he emphasizes, the consequence of this responsibility does not have to translate into resignation, but rather into a decision by voters.
"To be debating political responsibility and saying that this implies resignation when there is an election a month away is to fail to understand that the judgment on political responsibility in elected positions lies with the voters," he stressed, in statements to television, as he left the Alto de São João cemetery, after the funeral of one of the victims of Wednesday's derailment.
But "political responsibility exists," he stressed, because "whoever holds a political office is politically responsible," the head of state noted. "Whoever leads a public institution (...) is subject to political judgment for anything untoward that happens within that institution, even without any fault or intervention," he clarified.
"The problem is knowing how accountability is enforced," and for that, "we need to have the full report," he said, emphasizing, however, that "accountability exists in principle." However, he emphasized, "those in elected office are accountable to the voters," and those in Lisbon are "very close to the opportunity to (...) express their opinions" in the local elections on October 12.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalled that there have been "more serious cases" at the local government level in which the electorate maintained its trust in political leaders. He also recalled that, in the case of the 2017 Pedrógão Grande fires, he felt the government's dismissal was unjustified, although he stated that he would not run for president again if "that number of deaths and injuries" were to occur again.
These statements prompted a journalist to question him about whether he was "sending a message" to the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas. "I'm not sending any message, because the cases are different," he dismissed. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also said he understands that the Carris president offered the position and believes that Carlos Moedas "did well" not to accept it at this stage.
However, it's important that "strict liability doesn't die alone," even though "apparently no one is specifically at fault" in the Glória elevator accident, which left 16 dead and 22 injured. "That can't happen. If not, where do we end up? How many deaths are necessary for there to be liability?" he concluded.
The President of the Republic also asked the authorities responsible for the final report on the fatal accident at the Ascensor da Glória in Lisbon to expedite its work, expressing his gratitude for the initial preliminary conclusions released on Saturday. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalled that the next report "is promised to be released within 45 days" and that the final document is only expected to be released within a year. "If it were possible to shorten these deadlines, especially for the final report, we would all be grateful."
The head of state commented on the conclusions of the first report, “still very preliminary”, from the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF), released on Saturday, which indicates that the cable connecting the two cabins of the Glória elevator “gave way at its attachment point” on the carriage that derailed.
What does the evidence gathered say about the causes of the accident?
The report also concludes that the elevator's maintenance plan "was up to date" and that a scheduled visual inspection was carried out on the morning of the accident, which did not detect any anomalies in the cable or in the braking systems of the two carriages.
Thanking the GPIAAF for meeting the deadline "under difficult circumstances"—"so rare in Portugal"—Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa noted that there is only "one expert" to evaluate railway accidents, urging that more be hired because "it is a very heavy responsibility." The President also highlighted what he considers to be the main doubts and clues left in this first report, namely what caused the cable connecting the two elevator cabins to come loose and why the redundancy to allow braking did not work.
The initial findings—he further noted—suggest that the visual inspection failed to detect the problem with the cable and further raise the question of "why there isn't an institution responsible for overseeing this type of matter." "We must wait for the report promised in 45 days," which Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would have liked to see presented sooner. "We'll have to wait until then," he emphasized.
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