Pratima Coutinho says Rosy Pereira has registered her birth in Portugal
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The ghost of Portuguese citizenship raised its ugly head in the Margao Municipal Council with two ruling city fathers claiming that councillor Rosy Pereira has registered her birth in Portugal.
Pereira, however, has stoutly denied the allegations, saying her birth is not registered in Portugal nor is she a holder of a Portuguese passport.
In support of her contention, councillor Pratima Coutinho distributed copy of the purported registration of Pereira’s birth in Portugal on December 7, 2011, to the media.
The issue came to the fore at the council meeting called to elect members of the market and sanitation panel when ruling councillor Sadanand Naik claimed that one of the contestants for the vacant post has registered her birth in Portugal. Pratima Coutinho, against whom Rosy Pereira was contesting for the post of market committee member, joined the debate demanding to know could anyone whose birth is registered in Portugal contest elections in the State?
After her election, Pratima disclosed to the media that she was referring to councillor Rosy Pereira since they were in possession of a document showing that the latter had registered her birth in Portugal.
Replying to a question, Pratima said that neither she nor the ruling group would move any authority seeking disqualification of the councillor. “I would prefer concentrating on the markets instead of seeking Rosy’s disqualification. Sadanand had raised the issue as he demanded to know how the councillor had the guts to the contest today’s election when she knew her house was not in order”, she said.
Meanwhile, Rosy termed Pratima’s accusation as blatant lie and dared her to prove her charges in court. “I have no Portuguese passport. It is a blatant lie that I had registered my birth after the municipal election. Let them prove that I have registered my birth in Portugal”, she asserted.
