Carlos Pereira confirms that he will abandon the role of coordinator of the PS in the Parliamentary Commission of Investigation on the Political Management of the TAP. “I do this for put an end to speculationthe suspicion and insinuation that has been generated around a meeting that took place”, announced the socialist deputy who has been the object of criticism and who scheduled a press conference to provide clarifications – next to him was Eurico Brilhante Dias, parliamentary leader of the PS, who does not do not say not even a word and even if refused to answer a question that has been asked.

The socialist deputy said that he is not leaving his seat in the commission to “anticipate the result of the transparency commission”, expressing confidence that participation in the “secret meeting” with the CEO of TAP will not be considered illegal: “I hope that the transparency committee concludes that participation in the meeting did not violate no code of conduct ethical precept or the code of conduct of the Assembly of the Republic”.

“AND very difficult be permanent to be the focus of a CPI of which the focus he is not the coordinator of the PS”, acknowledged the deputy, defending that the suspicions seem “unfair” and that, being under fire, there were “personal reasons” in the decision, to protect himself and his family.

What’s more, he also stressed that the “hint” around the commission of investigation serves to “keep alive the idea that the CPI is a set of suspicions and cases and that it does not solve or evaluate what is essential.” Even so, he acknowledged that his departure from this committee is important so that “tranquility is returned” to the scrutiny of the TAP management.

Deputy denies favoritism and suggests that he may have suffered reprisals

“I’m not leaving because they forgave me a debt,” said the deputy, clarifying that “it’s FAKE that there has been a pardon, incompatibility in the parliamentary investigation commission of the CGD or that there has been favoritism”. Carlos Pereira went so far as to insinuate that he may have been subjected to reprisals by the bank for having been a speaker for the Caixa investigation commission.

The Socialist deputy explained that there is a debt amounting to “some 100 thousand eurosand assured that there were “efforts” on the part of the guarantors (of which he is a part) to, between 2016 and 2021, resolve the situation. “In the middle of the negotiation, the bank decides to seize“He said, which he used to justify the absence of an alleged favoritism.

Carlos Pereira insisted that the guarantors made “numerous proposals” for the resolution of the dispute, accused Caixa Geral de Depósitos that “many did not [terem sido] response objects” and reiterated that there was always an “effort for the debt to be paid.”

“CGD initiates a contentious execution process, the process continues and is stopped by trial”, which in the eyes of Carlos Pereira shows that there was no favoritism. In other words, the deputy explained that “the bank, in the middle of the negotiation, chose to litigate and execute”, for which he considers that “for those who are favoring it, it is a practice bit strange”

The deputy also clarified that the “debt payment was done” through the loan application, although he defended himself by saying that “he did not have any credit at that time” and that “he was not the owner of the debt”, but a guarantor.

Despite not having mentioned the value that the guarantors paid to seal the debt, Carlos Pereira explained that the value was taken into account “prescribed interest — at the end of five years, the interest expires and is not legally charged — and inaction interest of CGD for the efforts made by the guarantors to pay the debt and received no response.

In the deputy’s opinion, the actions of CGD demonstrate the “absence of any Preferential Treatment since the bank’s main option was litigation and not negotiation”, he insisted, even before throwing suspicions, questioning if “it was not to consider a attempted retaliation of the CGD” for having opted for the “judicial confrontation”, an insinuation due to the fact that it is committee rapporteur consult CGD, whose report ended up being rejected in 2017.

“What concerns the TAP report was also widely debated, disseminated and written and it does not seem to me that this case contributes anything new,” stressed the Socialist deputy.

The Socialist deputy has been criticized after it was revealed, during the parliamentary commission of inquiry on TAP, that he was the member of the PS parliamentary group that was in the “secret meeting” with the airline’s CEO, Christine Ourmières -Widener, in which members of the ministerial offices were also present, on the eve of the manager’s first parliamentary hearing, in the Economy commission.

Carlos Pereira leaves the TAP investigation commission to “safeguard the best interests of the PS”

Carlos Pereira confirmed on Thursday night that he will leave the parliamentary investigation commission to TAP. In a statement, he assured that the decision serves to “safeguard the best interests of the PS.”

“I understood to ask the president of the Parliamentary Group of the PS to release me from the coordination of the deputies of the Socialist Party in the Parliamentary Commission of Investigation of the Political Directorate of TAP, as well as from my presence in said Commission, in order to protect the results that determined by the Commission of Investigation and safeguard the best interests of the Socialist Party,” he said in a statement.

According to Correio da Manhã, Caixa Geral de Depósitos will have forgiven a debt of 66 thousand euros to a company in which Carlos Pereira was guarantor. Carlos Pereira was rapporteur of the CGD investigation commission.

Ambitious, workaholic and with enemies. Who is Carlos Pereira, the deputy who coordinates the PS in TAP and was at the “secret meeting”