The idea was articulated to journalists at the Assembly of the Republic by the Social Democrat coordinator for the Economic Committee, Gonçalo Laje, and the parliamentary leader of the CDS, Paulo Núncio.
Paulo Núncio, a former Secretary of State under the government led by Pedro Passos Coelho, stated that the information now provided by Parpública, concerning the purchase of TAP by the state, “once again demonstrates the total irresponsibility, incompetence, and thoughtlessness of the then Minister of Infrastructure and current Secretary-General of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos.”
“Parpública reports that this operation lacked complete transparency, since this state holding company—strangely and contrary to the usual process—did not participate in the transaction, which was conducted solely by Pedro Nuno Santos. Equally grave, Parpública reports that there is no economic or financial study justifying the 55 million euros that the state paid to David Neeleman for his shares,” declared the president of the CDS Parliamentary Group.
Paulo Núncio claimed that the current Secretary-General of the PS, “acting with total opacity and without any justification, used public funds amounting to 55 million euros to purchase a bankrupt company,” referring to TAP.
“A minister who acts with this level of irresponsibility, lack of transparency, and frivolity is unfit to be a prime minister,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Gonçalo Laje noted that there was a payment of 55 million euros by the state to repurchase shares from American businessman David Neeleman, but to this day, “it is impossible to know who was involved in that decision-making process.”
“We are facing an arbitrary and unilateral decision taken by Pedro Nuno Santos, without any justification,” argued the PSD coordinator on the Economic Committee.
Gonçalo Laje also referenced other incidents related to TAP that occurred during the tenure of Pedro Nuno Santos as Minister of Infrastructure, such as “layoffs agreed via WhatsApp and the approval of an airport while the Prime Minister [António Costa] was out of the country.”
“Now, these 55 million euros paid to David Neeleman in the midst of the [Covid-19] pandemic without any evaluation of the company itself. This obviously causes us concern,” he added.
Speaking to journalists, the Social Democrat lawmaker asserted that “a check for 55 million euros paid to a company with negative equity of 578 million euros must be scrutinized.”
“Precisely because we are in an election campaign, we must be responsible for our decisions and must understand their impact. In this case, it is clear that there was a decision that cost the state 55 million euros because it had no foundation,” he added.
