Pilots Union regrets lack of political accountability in CPI report

The President of the Union of Civil Aviation Pilots (SPAC) criticized this Wednesday that the preliminary report of the TAP investigation commission does not indicate any political responsibility for the payment of compensation in the amount of 500 thousand euros to Alexandra Reis.

“There is no political responsibility. Let it be flippant, this is not a peremptory accusation that Pedro Nuno Santos and Hugo Santos Mendez [na altura ministro e secretário de Estado das Infraestruturas, respetivamente] responsible or co-responsible for this direct payment of €500,000 to Alexandra Reis,” Thiago Faria Lopez said in statements to Lusa.

Stressing that “it is a fact that this payment was made”, the union leader regrets that, based on what he found in the preliminary report, “the CPI [Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito] relieve the government of this responsibility.

“It actually confuses me a little,” he admitted.

The preliminary report of the TAP commission of inquiry, delivered last night to the commission and to which Lusa had access, concluded that there was no evidence that the Treasury was aware of the process of leaving Alexandra Reis, which I only learned at the time of the publication of the communiqué in CMVM.

As for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing, the report said that it was “knowing about the process of leaving Alexandra Reis”, and the then Minister Pedro Nuno Santos carried out the will of the former Executive President (CEO) Christine Urmier. -Widener to replace former director Alexandra Reis, and, at the end of the process, given “her consent to the amount agreed between the parties.”

“Assuming a payment that they allegedly should not have made (because the IGF [Inspeção-Geral das Finanças] it was said that Alexandra Reis left of her own free will, therefore, there was no right to compensation), the political consequences should be much more than a simple dismissal, because this is state capital, this is the money of the Portuguese taxpayers,” supported the president of SPAC.

“If it were a developed country or a first world country, it is guaranteed that at least Hugo Santos Mendez, who has a deeper knowledge of the situation, will never again hold a public office in Portugal,” he added.

As for the Ministry of Finance, the trade union leader admits that “it has nothing to do with this case, at least not Fernando Medina.”

For Thiago Faria Lopes, it is certain that “who did not give permission and who is not guilty, in fact, it was the Portuguese taxpayers for this payment”, which is the preliminary CPI report for TAP “another proof that political guilt in Portugal dies always alone “.

The SPAC President also points out that the Commission of Inquiry’s preliminary report does not seem to give due “emphasis” to the claim made by former TAP administrator Diogo Lacerda Machado during his hearing that “the hub company in Lisbon was insured only for five years.

“In the current stage of new privatization, this is very important. Not having a “hub” in 20 or 30 years even to support the country’s economy – because everyone knows that aviation, in which case TAP will have a very strong positive impact on the economy of Portugal – it will be a crime against the country,” he argues .

The CPI Preliminary Report for TAP Management Guardianship Policy, by PS MP Ana Paula Bernardo, concluded that “there are no materially significant situations indicative of the practice of interference in the day-to-day management of the company by guardianship authorities.”

CPI also found that “there is no evidence that TAP’s shareholder, the Treasury Department, was aware of Alexandra Reis’ departure process,” the report said.

Until July 10, the parties may submit proposals for changing this preliminary version. Discussion and voting on the report in the parliamentary commission of inquiry is scheduled for July 13, and its consideration at the plenary session – for July 19.

This commission of inquiry, which began work in February, was proposed by Block de Esquerda following a controversial half-million-euro compensation paid to Alexandra Reis, who later worked for NAV and was State Secretary of the Treasury. exit from TAP.