PSD vice president Miguel Pinto Luz said on Friday that statements by former minister Pedro Nuno Santos about TAP show that the government has internal communication problems and a “chronic inability to handle the truth”.
“There is an urgent need to clear up this whole TAP situation. But more important than solving the TAP problem is solving an internal issue within this government, which is the chronic inability to properly handle the truth and the chronic inability to live in democracy with sound oversight.” “said Miguel Pinto Luz in statements to the Lusa agency.
Former Infrastructure and Housing Minister Pedro Nuno Santos confirmed this Friday that he had given “political approval” for Alexandra Reis’ departure from TAP, adding that he had been informed “of the final value of the agreement” between the parties.
For the PSD leader, these new data are “serious”, recalling that when Minister Pedro Nuno Santos appointed Alexandra Reis as president of Navegação Aérea de Portugal (NAV) “he was aware of the compensation” of 500,000 euros.
“Therefore, at the time of the indemnification, mentioning NAV, did you or did you not notify Finance of the indemnity at that point?emphasized Miguel Pinto Luz.
For the Vice-President of the Social Democrats, the clarifications given this Friday by Pedro Nuno Santos are “confirmation that there is no communication within the government”.
“The government lives well with the truth being cut little by little, mouth-washed, finding truths in untruths and finding more untruths. It is a recurring position of the government”he underlined.
Asked about the impact the recent information could have on TAP’s Commission of Inquiry, Miguel Pinto Luz stressed that the PSD “is not looking out” for the Portuguese airline’s problems.
“As this history of truth comes in layers, we hope that this investigative committee will be able to expose the whole truth once and for all”he added.
In a public clarification released today, Pedro Nuno Santos said he was aware of the compensation amount of 500 thousand euros: “(…) It was found yesterday [19 de janeiro de 2023]by me, an earlier message from my then Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State [das Infraestruturas Hugo Mendes]none of the three had the recollection of informing me of the final value of the agreement reached by the parties”.
According to the former head of infrastructure, the chief of staff and the secretary of state are convinced that “on the advice of the CEO of TAP and his team of lawyers and the information they received from them, it was not possible to determine the amount of the compensation”.
Still in the aforementioned communication, Pedro Nuno Santos revealed that he was asked for “political permission to close the process” and has given it.
TAP’s executive chairperson, Christine Ourmières-Widener, was heard in parliament on Wednesday to explain the compensation paid to former administrator Alexandra Reis, who later became NAV’s chairperson and secretary of state.
At the hearing, the head of TAP said she had been in contact “from the beginning” with then-Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Mendes.
Source: DN
