IL wants to know when and how TAR will be privatized

The Liberal Initiative wants to know when and how TAP will be privatised by the PSD/CDS-PP government and has informed the Prime Minister of the need for possible political consequences following the publication of the report by the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF).

“When will TAR be privatized? How will it be privatized? How will the right to taxpayers’ money be protected? These are the questions that matter,” defended Liberal MP Rodrigo Saraiva, speaking to journalists in the Assembly of the Republic.

An audit of TAP’s accounts by the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF), carried out on Monday by the SIC and to which Lusa had access, showed that the airline was bought in 2015 under the guarantee of the company itself.

The IGF also proposed that the audit report be sent to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

In addition to transparency in the current government’s re-privatization process, the IL MP also wants to know “when the 3.2 billion euros can be returned to Portuguese taxpayers”, criticizing the previous Socialist leader led by António Costa.

“It is worth remembering the 3.2 billion euros of taxpayers’ money that the government of António Costa and the government of the PS invested in TAP. The question remains: when will this money be returned to the Portuguese taxpayers? We all know that this is not the case. And then, this story about the approximately 200 million millions from Airbus that were transferred to David Neeleman for subsequent use in TAP does not make fools of those who attack this value, although they did not want it then. Let’s talk about the 55 million dollars that the government of António Costa transferred to David Neeleman so that he could leave TAP,” he said.

Asked whether there should be political implications from the IGF audit results, Rodrigo Saraiva replied: “That’s an assessment that the prime minister should make. At the moment, we don’t think there’s a need for that.”

From the IL’s perspective, the IGF report “doesn’t bring much news”, stressing that the document is the result of the work of the commission investigating the TAP leadership and that it is now up to the Public Ministry (MP) to assess the legality or otherwise” of the relevant procedures.

The Liberal MP also stated that “the Portuguese state, like any other state, does not have to manage aviation companies.”

“This is a private business, it is a very complex business, and government managers may not have the competence to do this. Private companies know how to do this better,” he said.