National Commission of Elections vs Public Prosecutor’s Office

The Public Prosecutor’s Office shelved a case of violation of the Election Law against the government-owned newspaper,  Jornal da Madeira, relating its coverage of the 2009 national and municipal elections.  The National Commission of Elections (CNE) appealed the decision, to the higher echelons of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office rejected the appeal on the grounds that the National Commission was not the party discriminated against. It then notified the party who could legitimately appeal, in this case, the New Democracy Party (PND).

The Public Prosecutor’s Office had taken an identical decision regarding the 2007 regional elections but neglected to notify the party, thereby denying it the possibility of appealing against the decision.

Curiously, in its most recent decision, the Public Prosecutor’s Office deliberately misquotes the National Commission of Election, stating that it had found all the opinion pieces published to be politically ‘neutral’. What the CNE report actually stated was that they were systematic propaganda in favor of the ruling party.  In fact, only members of the PSD ruling party write political opinion pieces in the paper, and they are everything but of a neutral nature.