PSD Demands Urgent Joao Galamba Hearing at TAP Commission of Inquiry

PSD on Tuesday demanded an urgent hearing from Infrastructure Minister João Galamba before the TAP Investigation Commission in connection with a meeting with PS deputies, the executive president and members of government agencies in January.

According to a request sent on Tuesday to Commission of Inquiry Chairman Jorge Seguro Sánchez, the PSD parliamentary group understands that “Minister Joao Galamba’s hearing is urgent,” thus requesting “formally his priority agenda.”

This is a meeting that took place on the eve of the hearing of TAP Executive President Christine Urmier-Widener in January, which was attended by the person in charge, PS deputies and members of government institutions.

“According to the CEO [presidente executiva] TAP, the invitation to the meeting came from the Ministry of Infrastructure. According to the Minister of Infrastructure, the expression of interest in the meeting originally came from TAP, on January 16, 2023, and his ministry only agreed to hold it,” the PSD notes, emphasizing that the Minister of Infrastructure’s clarifications took place two days after the public found out about the existence of the congregation.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, from which the meeting was invited via Teams, claims that it served only as a link between the Socialist Party parliamentary group and Infrastructure.

In this sense, the PSD also asks the two ministries and the executive president of the TAR to answer six questions: “On whose initiative was the meeting held on January 17, 2023, how did the interest in holding the meeting appear? what the agenda was, who participated, whether there are summaries, notes, or minutes of the meeting, and what was discussed at said meeting.”

If there are written records of the meeting, the PSD “requests that they be forwarded to the TAP Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry”.

“We intend to wait for the arrival of Minister Joao Galamba so that he can clarify what is not working for us,” said PSD MP Paulo Moniz in statements to journalists about this request in the Assembly of the Republic.

For PSD, the explanations given so far raise “deep doubts” that “should be fully clarified”, hence the urgent need to hear João Galamba “as soon as possible”, even though it was agreed that the commission of inquiry should leave listening to political actors for a later stage of work.

With regard to Finance Minister Fernando Medina, the PSD understands that there is no reason to wait for a hearing, said Paulo Moniz, noting that with regard to Joao Galamba “there is a circumstance that has dramatically changed the situation.” the commission of inquiry must evaluate.

On Monday, TVI reported that Laura Abreu Cravo, wife of current infrastructure minister João Galamba, has been coordinating the Department of Financial Services at the Treasury, headed by Fernando Medina, for a year, although the appointment has never been made public. in a republican diary.

In Parliament, Fernando Medina explained that Laura Cravo was not named to the Diário da República because she functions in the Planning, Strategy, Evaluation and International Relations Office (GPEARI) of the Ministry of Finance within the framework of public mobility, since she is the Securities Market Commission. not appointed by the government.