HomePolitics"What has been done at TAP is a political and financial crime"

“What has been done at TAP is a political and financial crime”

PSD chairman Luís Montenegro said on Saturday that what was done at TAP was “a political and financial crime” as the government’s will to privatize the company cannot go untouched.

“What was done at TAP was a political crime. It was a political and financial crime, which carries costs,” said Luís Montenegro, speaking at the end of the Coimbra PSD District Municipal Convention, which took place in Montemor- o- Velho.

For the Social Democratic leader, citizens should look into this matter “and learn lessons from the perspective of public resource management” and the consequences of the decisions “government officials make”.

According to Luís Montenegro, the renationalization process initiated by the first government of António Costa should be based on “strategic decisions”. “We were told that TAP was strategic, that TAP had to be state-owned, because we couldn’t help but have a flagship company.”

The Prime Minister’s recent announcement that he wants the privatization of that airline to take place within the next 12 months “cannot be left unscathed,” Luís Montenegro stressed.

Luís Montenegro recalled that in 2016 the government “inherited a TAP with most of the capital in private hands” and in the process of privatization, later choosing to follow the path of renationalization.

“This decision was not imposed by anyone. There was no European Commission that imposed it. It was a choice in which these people understood that the public interest would be better safeguarded and served.he stressed, claiming that the government has chosen to renationalize TAP “of its own will, as a strategic option”.

Luís Montenegro also pointed to the more than three billion euros in state aid to TAP in the wake of the pandemic. “After injecting so much capital, do you already think that the way out is to re-privatize TAP? But do these people play on the board? Are you playing with our money? For example, those three billion served to ensure that there would be no pension cuts for at least three years,” he emphasized.

During his more than half-hour speech, Luís Montenegro also criticized the decentralization process, blocking the hearing of ministers in parliament by the socialist bank or delaying “structuring decisions”.

“Choices have consequences. We are impoverishing more in Portugal today because of the choices Mr António Costa and PS have made in recent years,” he emphasized.

Author: DN/Lusa

Source: DN

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