On the last day for the submission of proposals to amend the Preliminary Report of the Commission of Inquiry (CPI) at TAP, criticism poured in from Chega, Bloco de Esquerda and PCP. And ideologies aside, they all point in the same direction: the CPI’s report contains omissions, it does not fully reflect the truth of the facts, and the government made a mistake with the registry office – albeit for different reasons.
The first opposition party to present the interpretation of what was collected in the CPI was Chega. At the party’s headquarters in Lisbon, André Ventura announced that, according to Chega, the report should show government interference – and António Costa – in the airline. “Chega suggests that it should be clear that political interference during António Costa’s government happened, was wanted, deliberate and deliberate”, said Ventura, pointing to even more responsible: the former Minister of Infrastructure, Pedro Nuno Santos; the current, João Galamba and finally the former Secretary of State with the same portfolio, Hugo Mendes.
Ventura illustrated the interferences, stating: “When the former CEO wanted to present the financial results of the company, she was forbidden by the government” and that when Christine-Ourmières asked Widener to meet with the Minister of Labour [Ana Mendes Godinho] “was denied him by the Ministry of Infrastructure” and finally that the former director of the company, Diogo Lacerda Machado, reported “the government’s attempt to interfere with his voice”. This alleged interference, according to Ventura, led to “bad results” in legal and logistical terms.
On the side of the blockades, it was the parliamentary leader, Pedro Filipe Soares, who announced the party’s version. At a press conference in parliament, the deputy of the Bloco de Esquerda began by asking: “After all, who is afraid of the conclusions of the CPI?”, referring several times to the fact that António Costa did not comment on the preliminary results of the CPI, on the various occasions when he was asked to comment on the matter. On July 5, when the preliminary version of the report was released, the Prime Minister merely commented: “I don’t know what the report says, I’m waiting for the final conclusions of the report to know if there are any other political consequences to draw.”
In total, BE makes nearly 30 suggestions for changes, mainly aimed at resolving “structural omissions”. For this reason, Pedro Filipe Soares assumes, the blockades were “very thin” in the amendments. But guarantee: “None of them are unfounded and it will take a lot of imagination before the PS does not approve them.”
One of the changes proposed by the party is the creation of a new section, focused on events at the Ministry of Infrastructure. It is unacceptable that part of the committee’s work should be left out of the report. regarding the behavior, the board of João Galamba at the head of the Ministry of Infrastructure should also be mentioned in the CPI reportnoted Pedro Filipe Soares, who also criticized the “promiscuity” between the Socialist Party and the public interest. “The meeting of the parliamentary group with the CEO of TAP is illustrative of this. It is not acceptable and cannot be removed from the report,” he stressed. After all these events – including that of the night of April 26, which ended with the intervention of the Information and Security Service (SIS) to recover the stolen computer, restored by the former deputy, the parliamentary leader of the Bloc sees only one possible solution: “João Galamba cannot continue [no governo]And if the final report does not contain the amendments proposed by BE, the party will not vote for the document.
Soon after, it was the PCP to present the proposed changes. Also in a parliamentary press conference, the communists stated what they would like to see changed in the resulting CPI report. There are 46 proposals in all, announced Representative Bruno Dias, an effective member of the Communists on the committee.
As had happened during the work of the parliamentary committee, the communist deputy focused “on the political management of TAP”. In the summary text made available to journalists – and read by Bruno Dias – the communists claim that “the central question that arises in this final phase of the work of the Commission of Inquiry is the elaboration of a report which (rather than serving to facilitate a new privatization of TAP) serves to present conclusions and consequences of the path taken. to give and do not repeat the disastrous options of the past”.
But among the changes proposed by the PCP, the novelty goes to the “Proposal to send information to the Public Prosecution Servicenoting that the Commission of Inquiry has found evidence of what a bunch of TAP administratorsduring the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, had their salaries paid through services paid to Atlantic Gateway instead of receiving them through TAP”. So defend the communists, this allowed the company to avoid paying the 23% social security rate (in the case of directors it was 11%).
As for the events at the Ministry of Infrastructure – which are not addressed in the communist proposals – Bruno Dias believes that they are of “extreme seriousness” and that “more than to mention this in the CPI report”, the Assembly “and other bodies” must “take the respective initiatives so that there is a full clarification of what happened, the determination of responsibilities” and political and legal consequences.
Next Tuesday it will be PSD’s turn to present its amendments; IL, PAN and Livre declined to comment.
PSD presents its version this Tuesday
After Chega, Bloco de Esquerda and PCP, it is PSD’s turn to present its conclusions from the CPI report to TAP. The presentation will take place at 3:30 pm in the Assembly of the Republic.
Liberal Initiative, PAN and Livre will not present conclusions, but for several reasons: the last two parties (the only ones with one deputy) were not represented in the CPI; the liberals refused to draw any conclusions themselves.
Despite considering that the preliminary report “is a work of fiction” made “against reality, against the Assembly of the Republic”, the Liberals immediately refused to table amendments, saying the party “does not participate in farces “. For Rui Rocha, leader of the Liberal Initiative, the preliminary report by deputy rapporteur, Ana Paula Bernardo, is seen as “an attempt to mislead the Portuguese”.
Source: DN
