This request, not mentioned during this morning’s debate called by Chega regarding the privatization of TAP, was reported by the Eco newspaper and confirmed by an official party source to Lusa after the discussion had ended.
According to the same source, Chega is awaiting the publication of the decree-law to formalize the request for parliamentary review.
The parliamentary review of decree-laws, which forces a vote on the initiative in the Assembly of the Republic, can lead to the amendment or cessation of the government’s legal instrument.
The request must be signed by at least ten deputies, and Chega’s parliamentary group consists of 60 members.
The request must be submitted within 30 days following the publication of the decree-law in Diário da República.
On Thursday, the Council of Ministers approved the decree-law that marks the start of TAP’s privatization process, anticipating the opening of up to 49.9% of the airline’s share capital to private investors, with 5% reserved for employees.
The approval by the Council of Ministers of the decree-law was the first step to initiate the sale of TAP, which will have private shareholders again after the government moved towards nationalization in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic on air transport.
The reprivatization of the airline has been under consideration since 2023 but was halted with the fall of the last two PS and PSD governments.
Originally state-owned, TAP was partially privatized in 2015, but the process was reversed in 2016 by António Costa’s government, which regained 50% of the company.
Last year, Luís Montenegro’s administration revisited the topic and expressed the intention to proceed with the sale of a minority stake in 2025. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing with major European groups such as Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG.
