On Wednesday, the government justified its refusal to send legal opinions supporting the dismissal of the former chief executive of the company to the TAP investigative committee on the need to “protect the public interest.”
In a note sent to Lusa, the office of the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendez, argues that “the opinion in question is not within the competence of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI)” and “disclosing it involves risks in protecting the legal position of the state.”
“It is for this reason that the government’s response to the CPI is geared towards protecting the public interest,” notes a note from the office of Ana Catarina Mendez.
The government claims that “the processes for firing the former TAP CEO and chairman have been the subject of public demonstrations that could lead to litigation between the parties involved and the state.”
Ana Catarina Mendez’s office expresses the government’s “full readiness” to “cooperate with the Assembly of the Republic and in particular with the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry”, assuring that “respect is absolute”.
However, he rejects “an atmosphere of constant tension around the CPI, which should work quietly and with which the government cooperates with all institutional loyalty.”
This position came on the day that the SDP, through MP Paulo Moniz, accused the government of “acting outside the law” for refusing to forward to the TAP commission of inquiry opinions giving “legal support” to the dismissal for good reason of former TAP CEO Christine Urmier-Widener.
Paulo Moniz, PSD coordinator of the commission of inquiry for TAP, explained that the party requested in the request the legal grounds cited by Finance Minister Fernando Medina “during a press conference on March 6 at which the dismissal was announced for a just cause of the TAP CEO.”
“It so happened that we were surprised, immensely surprised, moreover, amazed that they did not send us this information, where it is immediately clear that the ministers not only deceived the Portuguese regarding the publicized legal certainty of their decision, but also came to the conclusion that these same ministers act outside the law,” he accused the Social Democrat,” said the Social Democrat deputy.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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