The individuals who lodged over a thousand complaints following José Rodrigues dos Santos’ interview with the PCP’s secretary-general, Paulo Raimundo, on RTP, are receiving written responses from the Ombudsperson for Viewers, Ana Sousa Dias. She acknowledges that the interview was “objectively unsuccessful,” as it did not provide clarifications on the party’s positions, stating that the “public service was not fulfilled.”
“It was clearly different from all the others. The journalist is sufficiently experienced to have understood the repeated use of ‘no’ by Paulo Raimundo before the answers as a cue. We all would have benefited if he had chosen to address other topics instead of turning the interview into a debate on a single issue,” Ana Sousa Dias argued.
Addressing those who requested actions such as “firing, opening disciplinary proceedings, dismissing, or making some kind of decision” regarding journalist José Rodrigues dos Santos’ future, Ana Sousa Dias clarified that it is “not part” of her duties.
“My duties are, in fact, outlined in the Statute of the Ombudspersons. However, I can and should highlight situations where I believe public service was not met. In this case, that is my opinion,” stated the Ombudsperson for Viewers.
At the end of her message, Ana Sousa Dias reveals that the next Voz do Cidadão program, aired on Sundays on RTP2, will be “dedicated to the series of interviews with party leaders from recent weeks” and will feature José Rodrigues dos Santos, António José Teixeira, and João Adelino Faria.
On March 26, the Ombudsperson for Viewers had indicated that she had received “over 1,000 complaints” to date. This Thursday, several people who made complaints shared on social media the response they received from Ana Sousa Dias.
Following the interview, the PCP announced it would file complaints with the Regulatory Entity for Social Communication (ERC), the National Election Commission (CNE), and the Journalist Professional License Commission (CCPJ) due to the conduct of the interview on RTP with the party’s secretary-general.
The PCP’s secretary-general was interviewed on the night of March 24 on Telejornal, in the context of the upcoming early legislative elections in May.
During the interview, Paulo Raimundo was questioned several times about the PCP’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which remained the focus throughout the approximately ten-minute interview.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, announced that the early legislative elections would be held on May 18, following the political crisis that led to the resignation of the AD Government, which saw its motion of confidence rejected in Parliament.
