“I would refund it immediately if an amount had already been paid that I was not convinced was strictly enshrined in accordance with the law.” The words are from Alexandra Reis, Secretary of State for Finance, who first responded to the controversy in which she is involved at the end of this Monday afternoon.
According to Mail tomorrow🇧🇷 the current state secretary left TAP in February with a right to compensation of 500,000 euros🇧🇷 Last Monday, Alexandra Reis said in a written statement to Lusa that her departure was requested by the company and therefore “agreed between the legal teams of both parties, mandated to ensure the adoption of best practices and strict compliance with all legal requirements”🇧🇷 However, when communicating with the Market and Securities Commission (CMVM), the company stated that the departure was requested by the now governing body.
Alexandra Reis’s position emerged hours after the Ministries of Finance and Infrastructure and Housing asked TAP for an explanation of the payment of compensation of 500 thousand euros that was paid to Alexandra Reis – the current Secretary of State for Finance – upon his departure from the company’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee, in February this year.
The joint order, signed by the two ministers, Fernando Medina and Pedro Nuno Santos, asks TAP to “clarify the legal framework of the agreement concluded in the context of the termination of functions”.🇧🇷 It is also required that the company – whose majority shareholder is the State, in addition to the supervision of the Ministry of Infrastructure – clarify “the amount of compensation awarded” to Alexandra Reis, who had two more years to serve in positions.
Last February, Alexandra Reis resigned from TAP’s board of directors and executive committee. Months later, in June, the government nominated her for the presidency of Navegação Aérea de Portugal (NAV) – a position she held until early this month, when she left to join the government, at the time of the latest reshuffle from the government. Executive, carried out in response to the controversy with Miguel Alves, who resigned as Deputy Secretary of State following several issues related to his past as mayor in Caminha.
Following Alexandra Reis’s statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in what was his third response on the subject, stated that “it shouldn’t be too difficult to clarify” whether it was a termination or not: “Because it’s a decision in itself, there wouldn’t necessarily be compensation.” The president also asked for an effort to understand the reason for the termination of positions at TAP – something that is “important” not only to the government, but also to Marcelo himself.
Opposition wants explanation
After the case, all opposition parties – without exception – criticized the government and demanded an explanation. The first reaction was the vice president of the PSD group, Paulo Rios de Oliveira, who said that the situation was “frightening”. Speaking to Lusa, the Social Democratic deputy believed that “even at Christmas, the gifts from Minister Pedro Nuno Santos are not good”. Miguel Pinto Luz, vice president of the PSD, called the statements of the secretary of state “abhorrent”.
In the reaction of the PAN, the only deputy – and party leader – Inês Sousa Real found it “incomprehensible that she wants to leave a company that has been intervened by the State and that she is taking half a million euros with her”. 🇧🇷We are all waiting for the government to break the silence and explain to the country how this is allowed at TAP”, he wrote in a publication on the social network Twitter.
Chega responded by André Ventura, at the party’s headquarters, announcing that “after analyzing the situation in some detail”, the party had “submitted a request to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Infrastructure, the Secretary of State and the current CEO of KRAAN”. Later, on the SIC Notícias antenna, Ventura opined that the controversy could even lead to yet another government reshuffle – it would be the third in a year.
The Bloco de Esquerda also requested an urgent parliamentary hearing with the same participants. 🇧🇷If confirmed, the payment of a half-million-euro award to TAP’s then manager raises questions that should be clarified immediatelynamely, on contracts and agreements entered into by companies with public participation,” both requests from the blockers state.
For its part, the Liberal Initiative classified the matter as a “disrespect for the taxpayer”. For liberals there are two options: if Alexandra Reis resigned and received compensation, “the case is politically and morally unacceptable”; if she was fired, then it is urgent “to know the underlying reasons. If everything was due to a matter of incompetence, why did it go to NAV and the government afterwards?IL asked in a written message, later requesting an audit of TAP’s renationalization.
The PCP also asked for a parliamentary hearing with Fernando Medina and Pedro Nuno Santos, as “explanation and verification of this situation is needed”. 🇧🇷The contrast between the compensation paid to managers for layoffs and the unacceptable reduction in the legal value owed by most employees in the event of a layoff is shocking.’ concluded the communists.
Speaking to DN, a source from Livre’s parliamentary office said the “party will await clarification on the legality or illegality of the situation”. But, according to the party, it is a case that at first sight seems scandalous, not least because of the difference in treatment with victims of domestic violence’, to whom Livre believes unemployment benefits should be paid. 🇧🇷It seems outrageous that someone with political responsibilities should be treated so differentlyhe concluded.
Source: DN
