PSD defends Galamba’s resignation to prove he wanted to withhold information to parliament

This Friday, the SDP considered that the Minister of Infrastructure could not remain in office if it was confirmed that he wanted to withhold information from the parliamentary committee of inquiry for TAP about a meeting with the former chief executive of the company.

“We just learned from the voice of his former adviser that the minister wanted to lie to the parliamentary commission of inquiry. [CPI]omitting relevant information on the topic of TAR,” the SDP parliamentary leader said, considering that “this is unacceptable in the behavior of a member of the government.”

Speaking to reporters in the Assembly of the Republic, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento stated that “if this is indeed the case, then there are no conditions for a minister to remain in government” because “he committed a very serious act by wanting to lie to the CPI.”

The Social Democrat also defended that Infrastructure Minister João Galamba was “politically very depressed about the lies he wanted to tell the CPI”.

“And I hope that the Prime Minister, who refuses to talk about everything that happens in TAP, and therefore does not currently have the political authority that is required of the Prime Minister, will show some of this authoritative policy and, please, order in the house order in the government,” he said.

Miranda Sarmento also criticized the statements made by PS parliamentary leader Eurico Brillante Diaz this Friday morning, saying that “he made very serious, very serious allegations against other parliamentary groups that make up this Assembly of the Republic, he accused other groups of parliamentarians of violating the law and transfer to the media of confidential information that was transferred to the parliamentary commission of inquiry of the PTP”.

“We learned this afternoon that the government has filed a complaint with the SP against the now former adviser to the Minister of Infrastructure precisely because it suspects that information was leaked from this office,” he pointed out.

The PSD parliamentary leader believes that the leader of the Socialist Bench “has an obligation at this time to explain to Parliament and the country the reasons that prompted him to make the extremely unfortunate statement he made this morning and to apologize to all parliamentary groups and all deputies who represent the Portuguese people in this chamber” .

Regarding the meeting that brought together the socialists, the government and Christine Urmier-Widener before the former TAP CEO was heard in parliament in January, the SDP MP stated that “the President of the Assembly of the Republic, who is very concerned and well, in the normal functioning of this chambers must also act on this unacceptable behavior on the part of the PS parliamentary group and on the part of the government.”

“What was already a suspicion was confirmed that there had in fact been a meeting between the PS parliamentary group and the then CEO of TAP on the eve of the hearings in the economy committee, and that this meeting served to prepare the questions that PS was going to make and the answers that were going to give the then CEO of TAP. And this is very serious from the point of view of ethics and from the point of view of conducting parliamentary work,” said Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.

Deputy Cabinet Minister of Infrastructure Frederico Pinheiro was fired on Wednesday for “behavior inconsistent with duties and responsibilities” inherent in the exercise of his functions, a Lusa official confirmed this Friday.

In a memo released to some media this afternoon, Frederico Pinheiro refers to having taken notes from a meeting between PS, government advisers and the former TAP chief executive the day before it was heard in parliament in January. and that “it was indicated that, if requested by a parliamentary committee of inquiry, the records would not be handed over as they were an unofficial document.”