The President of the Government reiterated on Wednesday that the conduct of the Regional Secretary for Labour and Social Solidarity “did not benefit her son or herself” regarding the awarding of a scholarship for a pilot course.  
Speaking at the Legislative Assembly, Carlos César said that there was neither exclusivity nor intention to take advantage of the situation and reiterated his belief in “the seriousness, the integrity of character and the assignment of duties to the Regional Secretary for Labour and Social Solidarity.”
The President of the Government reminded that the financial amount of the scholar in question could have been even higher, as it happened in many other cases, regardless of the amendment, therefore it would make more sense to discuss possible amendments to the scheme that regulates the granting of support to students – which he admitted the need to introduce amendments - than launching unfounded suspicion.
 Indeed, Carlos César was keen to stress that the Regional Government has always defended ethics in politics, a goal that has been achieved in the Azores and for over a decade there has never been a case of corruption or abuse of power.” This is a governance heritage that the Socialist Party can still be proud of.
Speaking to “accusers and detractors in general,” whether they are associated to parties or to the media, Carlos César stressed that “nowadays it seems that the easiest to do  is to make accusations and launch rumours” and that the accusations remain while the demonstration of their untruthfulness does not last more than a moment.
“Perversity is quite common among political parties as well as in the media, we can be sure of that,” the President of the Government emphasised, mentioning examples of journalistic pieces, like a newspaper that invented the hiring of a supposed family member of a member of the previous government to his office or the case of public television, in which suspicious expressions and adjectives characteristic of political debate are used rather than a neutral speech.
“There are newspapers and journalists as well that deserve our disapproval and are exempt from responsibility in a democracy. We even have the right and the duty to denounce the lies and distortion that is methodically organised to influence public opinion,” said Carlos César. 
Stressing his ease with the media because he has neither benefitted from information guidance from the media nor has asked any favour to any journalist, the President of the Government said that he has never asked permission “to express his views on the media and its conduct.”
Carlos César reiterated that “what is undeniable, after all, is that fact that the Secretary’s son without the ordinance in question could have been awarded with a scholarship or even a scholarship with an increased financial support. In this case, reality is, after all, the anti-news.”