Fernando Medina is going to the TAP commission of inquiry this Friday to explain the appointment of Alexandra Reis to the government a few months after leaving the company with a compensation of 500 thousand euros and the rehabilitation of the former presidents of the carrier.
The hearing of the Minister of Finance is the last of those envisaged by the commission of inquiry, out of about six dozen, which the deputies considered necessary to clarify the political tutelage of the TAR leadership and which began on March 29.
Fernando Medina took over as finance minister on March 30 last year, about a month after the departure of former TAP administrator Alexandra Reis, with half a million euros in compensation to which he was not entitled.
After a short tenure as President of NAV Portugal — Navegação Aérea, Alexandra Reis was invited to join Fernando Medina’s team at the end of the year, taking over the duties of Secretary of State for the Treasury, a position she resigned from after news of the disputed compensation, in December .
At a parliamentary committee hearing on budget and finance in January, Fernando Medina said he once met with Alexandra Reis before being invited to government and stressed that the former secretary of state was not part of a group of friends, in response to questions about the relationship between his wife and former legal director of TAP, Stephanie Sa Silva and Alexandra Reis.
The protagonist of the disputed compensation said at a hearing before a commission of inquiry in April that his relationship with the finance minister’s wife was “strictly professional.”
Fernando Medina also confirmed that “no record was found” in his ministry of the compensation received by Alexandra Reis, justifying her choice to the government by the fact that she has “a well-established public administration training program in Portugal”.
On March 6, Fernando Medina and Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba announced at a press conference that, given the findings of an audit by the General Inspectorate for Finance (IGF), they had decided to rehabilitate TAP’s executive president, Christine Urmier-Widener, as well as Manuel Beja, chairman of the board.
According to SIC, the former executive president, who had a mandate until 2026, will be challenging the dismissal in court, and if the decision is in her favor, substantial compensation could be at stake.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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