PKhP leader considers TAR privatization an “economic crime”

PCP General Secretary Paulo Raimundo on Tuesday in Setúbal deemed TAP’s privatization an “economic crime” after the Finance Minister said the process would soon be referred to the Council of Ministers.

“We are categorically against this idea. [da privatização da TAP]. This is a mistake which, if materialized, would be an economic crime. And we will do everything to refute this idea,” said Paulo Raimundo.

“TAP should be a public company that meets the needs of the country, but a public company with the criteria of public administration. Not a public company with the criteria of private management. – for 500,000 euros in compensation, I don’t know how many million euros in bonuses, for previous compensations, about which nothing is known yet,” the communist leader added.

Paulo Raimundo, who spoke to reporters while visiting the Associação Cristiano da Mocidade (ACM) of Setúbal, a private social solidarity institution (IPSS) that supports around 200 young people and where he was a cultural animator when he was young, also recalled that the ad the privatization of TAP is already 20 years old.

“We’ve been doing this for 20 years. For 20 years, a public company such as TAP, which is the largest national exporter and one of the most important strategic companies in the country, has privately managed criteria for just this purpose. it’s meant to be [privatização]”, said Paulo Raimundo.

Asked about the prosecution’s investigation into allegations of corruption in the purchase of TAP aircraft by previous administrations of the company, Paulo Raimundo said that if the TAP investigation board had a broader scope, as PCP advocates, it could also help answer this question.

“We proposed that the investigation commission be extended to the entire privatization process. There were those who thought it wasn’t worth it,” said Paulo Raimundo, lamenting that BE and PS made this opportunity impossible.