“Assess the exercise of political oversight over the management of TAP, SGPS, SA and TAP, SA, particularly in the period between 2020 and 2022, under public scrutiny.”
That, in the proponents’ own words, is the Bloco de Esquerda, the main target of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) into TAP, a commission that the Socialists decided this Tuesday to enable.
From 2020 to 2022, the protagonist of the “exercise of political tutelage” over the national airline, which is “under public control”, was in charge of the (now) former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos (sitting from this portfolio from October 2019 to his recent resignation on December 29).
A PS bank source devalued to the DN that the epicenter of the future CPI would be Pedro Nuno Santos (now on vacation and weeks away from resuming the deputy post), which could be as good as the ministers of Finance who supervised the company financially (João Leão and Fernando Medina) and even “eventually as António Costa himself”.
The same interlocutor underlined that by making the BE’s proposal viable – which arose after the controversy that led to the resignation of both Pedro Nuno and the Secretary of State for Finance, Alexandra Reis – the socialists also seek to convey the message that “absolute majority is not a dictatorship of the majority”. That is to say: he is not afraid of potentially uncomfortable matters.
The block proposal explicitly states that such an “assessment of the exercise of political oversight” by TAP, namely, will involve the “responsibilities” of both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Infrastructure in the “decisions taken” in the company. It will also scrutinize “management decisions”. […] which may have harmed the interests of the company and thus the public interest’ and ‘the quality of the information provided [pelos gestores] to the shareholder and the involvement of public decision-makers in decision-making” at TAP.
“The position of the PS was absolutely untenable, I think they understood it and now we have to do the work in the committee of inquiry.”
In addition, it will evaluate “the process of co-opting, appointing or hiring Alexandra Reis for the administration.” [da qual saiu com uma indemnização de meio milhão de euros, em fevereiro do ano passado, passando quatro meses depois a presidir à NAV, a empresa pública de controlo do espaço aéreo, de resto uma “conexão” que também será inquirida]. Another priority will be to review “the process of leaving members of the legal entities and the practice of compensation payments” and “the compensation paid to members of the legal entities […] in the different components”.
The bloc welcomed the decision of the PS positively. “The matter is anything but clear. The position of the PS was absolutely untenable. I think they have understood and now we have to do the work in the committee of inquiry,” said Catarina Martins. For the leader of the bloc, Pedro Nuno Santos will have to clarify, but also Fernando Medina.
Source: DN
