The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, participated in the International Day Against Corruption’s commemoration, which is held annually on December 9th, declared by the United Nations after the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in 2003. The ceremony, organized by the Anti-Corruption Committee (CAC – Portuguese acronym), took place in the Lanine Lariguto hall of the National Election Commission (CNE).

The event’s program included the launch of the CAC Strategic Plan (PECAC) for the period 2021 to 2025, and also the beginning of the dissemination of the Law No. 7/2020, of August 26th, regarding the Prevention and Fight against Corruption Measures.

The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in his intervention at the opening of the event, reaffirmed “the political will of the Government, to do its part in this fight and to guarantee the necessary institutional support and collaboration to CAC and to all other entities with responsibilities in this area ”.

The Minister acknowledged “the intensification of the activity of CAC in its mission to act to prevent and suppress acts of corruption in its various forms” and warmly welcomed “CAC and all its members and officials”, encouraging them “to proceed with the same commitment to the performance of their duties, increasingly seeking the effectiveness and real impact of this activity ”.

He recalled “the scale and the countless negative impacts of this scourge” which mean “huge resources taken from the portfolio of public investments in favour of education, health, social benefits and development in general”, so “the fight against Corruption cannot be an exclusive challenge for the CAC ”, but rather a duty of “all the State bodies as well as the different political actors and civil society, the public and private sector”,“ so that this fight is increasingly effective and truly national!”.

Fidelis Magalhães also considered that “in recent months we have taken great steps together” in order to change this reality, with “the recent approval, unanimously, by the National Parliament, and the subsequent publication of the Law on Prevention and Combat against Corruption Measures, including the effective control of public office holders’ income”, “with the adoption, by the Government, of a 2019-2023 Public Administration Reform Program” and now with the elaboration of the 2021- 2025 Strategic Plan of the Anti-Corruption Committee (PECAC) and its launch ”.

The Minister ended his speech wishing “a good work for all and that next year we may already be talking about more results and actions in preventing and fighting corruption in our country!”, because “that is what citizens expect! That what we must all contribute for, with different institutional actions and individual attitudes! ”.