Christine Urmier-Widener heard today before the TAP commission of inquiry.

Christine Urmier-Widener, still executive president of TAP, will be heard on Tuesday by a commission of inquiry after challenging the government’s rehab after paying compensation to former director Alexandra Reis.

The governor is the third person out of a list of about 60 people, who was heard by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the political supervision of the leadership of the TAR, created at the initiative of the Left Bloc.

The still-executive president of TAP contested the firing and accused the government of “political haste” in her dismissal, according to a defense objection cited by TVI/CNN.

Last week, the heads of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) were heard, who said that the executive chairman and chairman of the board of directors, Manuel Beja, are responsible in the event of compensation for Alexandra Reis for signing a single official document.

The airline’s financial administrator, Gonzalo Pires, was also heard, who assured that he had nothing to do with the compensation process, despite protecting the company’s accounts.

At the same hearing, Left Bloc MP Mariana Mortagua revealed that former manager Max Urban, chief executive from 2016 to 2017, when TAP was privately owned, received 1.35 million euros under a pre-retirement agreement.

The government announced on March 6 that the IGF had concluded that the agreement made for Alexandra Reis’s early departure from TAP was invalid and that it was going to seek a refund.

The finance and infrastructure ministers also announced the dismissal, for good cause, of TAP executive chairman Christine Urmier-Widener and chairman of the board of directors Manuel Beja.

The IGF review of the legitimacy of the compensation paid to Alexandra Reis was determined on December 27 last year by Finance Minister Fernando Medina and then Infrastructure and Housing Minister Pedro Nuno Santos.

In December, Alexandra Reis took over as secretary of state for the treasury, and then a dispute erupted over the compensation she received when she left the state-owned airline, leading to a government reshuffle, including the departure of Pedro Nuno Santos. who was replaced by Joao Galamba.

Between leaving TAP and joining the government, Alexandra Reis was also president of NAV Portugal – Navegação Aérea.

In a written statement sent to Lusa in December, Alexandra Reis said that the termination agreement “as an administrator of companies in the TAP universe” and the annulment of her “employment contract with TAP SA requested by TAP, as well as its public communication, has been agreed between the legal teams both parties, who are charged with ensuring that best practices are implemented and that all legal requirements are strictly observed.”