The parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc demanded this Thursday from the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Finance Minister, Fernando Medina, explanations already this week about the circumstances surrounding the dismissals of Alexandra Reis and Pedro Nuno Santos.
“What we demand is that the Government come now, through the voice of the prime minister, to respond to all these issues. About the legality of the payments to Alexandra Reis, about TAP’s regime of privileges, about the way in which there seems to be a way for someone to become a member of the Government. Either not being properly uncovered, that has political responsibilities, or if a questionable and morally reprehensible path is being accepted, that also has political responsibilities. In these matters, the Government owes explanations to the country”, declared Pedro Filipe Soares.
At a press conference in Porto, the leader and parliamentary leader of the blockade defended that the President of the Government, António Costa, and the Minister of Finance, Fernando Médica, cannot give explanations only when work is resumed in the Assembly of the Republic. “We are halfway through this week. He can’t wait until next week to speak to the country. That would be incomprehensible,” he said.
The resignation of the members of the Government in this case “does not close the case itself” and there are clarifications that the Government itself still owes to the country”, stressed Pedro Filipe Soares, adding that the President of the Government, António Costa, the Minister of the Treasury, Fernando Medina owe these explanations.
“We want to know all the responsibilities in this context. Alexandra Reis has a history of belonging to the administration of a company intervened by the State, declaring the State that it cannot continue in that company, leaving that company under an inexplicable privilege regime, being later hired for a new administration of another company public and, finally, by approval of the Minister of Finance and acceptance of the Prime Minister, for the Government. And from this point of view, there are clarifications that must be given here and they cannot pretend that they were unaware of the curriculum or the career of this minister who was chosen by Fernando Medina and accepted by António Costa”
The Bloco de Esquerda also accused the Government of not having known how to give the country a “direction”, recalling that in nine months of socialist executive there have already been at least 10 layoffs. “There are already 10 or 11 resignations from the Government, we have already seen that the Government loses more time in internal coordination failures than in the governability of the country, and we realize that this results in not having a direction, a strategic perspective, a horizon of transformation of the country to respond to the problems of the people”.
The blocist deputy considered that António Costa owes another governance to the country. “People face generalized impoverishment, the choice of the Government, but now we realize that it is not for everyone, there are friends of the Government who have special regimes. We also realize that this does not end with the TAP Board of Directors, that there are companies that make fabulous profits and the Government does not limit prices, although we realize that there are abuses in these prices, and therefore, the president the government has to be held accountable. by the choices you make.”
For Pedro Filipe Soares, and looking at the nine months of government, “little more remains than the cases that have been occurring.” “What is beyond that are strategic choices that are extremely ruinous for the people, which are impoverishing choices. Now, neither the cases are future, nor the impoverishment is future”, sums up the deputy.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, resigned on Wednesday night to “assume political responsibility” for the case of compensation of 500,000 euros from TAP to the former Secretary of State for Finance. This has been the third resignation of the Government in two days, after Alexandra Reis, from the Treasury portfolio, at the center of the controversy over compensation, and the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Santos Mendes, who followed Pedro’s decision Nuno Santos. .
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, dismissed the Secretary of State for Finance on Tuesday, less than a month after the inauguration of Alexandra Reis and after four days of controversy over the compensation of 500,000 euros from TAP, supervised by Pedro Nuno Santos. Alexandra Reis received compensation for her early departure, in February, as executive administrator of the airline. In June she was appointed by the Government to chair the Portuguese Air Navigation (NAV) and this month she was elected Secretary of State for the Treasury.
The decision to indemnify Alexandra Reis, reported by Correio da Manhã, was criticized by the entire opposition and even questioned by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, when he said that it would be “beautiful” to do without Monto.
Source: Observadora
