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Hearing of Castro Almeida and Pedro Reis on AICEP rejected in Parliament

The parliamentary group of Chega has put forth a request to hear from the current and former Minister of Economy, as well as the current and former President of the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP). This proposal was rejected by the PSD and abstained by the PS and IL. Only the party which submitted the request voted in favor.

PSD deputy Ricardo Carvalho explained his group’s vote, citing disagreement with the inclusion of former Minister of Economy Pedro Reis in the hearings.

Hugo Costa of the PS remarked that it “makes no sense” to hear from Pedro Reis without first summoning the current Minister of Economy to the Assembly of the Republic.

Filipe Melo of Chega announced that the party will proceed with a procedural request to hear from Pedro Reis.

The President of the Committee on Economy, Pedro Coimbra from the PS, clarified that a procedural request does not require a former official to appear before the parliamentary committee.

In June, the Minister of the Presidency, Leitão Amaro, announced the replacement of then-AICEP President Ricardo Arroja with the organization’s administrator, Madalena Oliveira e Silva.

Ricardo Arroja, an academic and consultant, had been appointed on June 3, 2024, to lead AICEP following a government resolution that disbanded the previous management.

This decision was formalized by a Council of Ministers Resolution, which approved the replacement to install “a new president, an administrator already in office, Madalena Oliveira e Silva,” as stated by the minister during a press conference at the time.

Today’s meeting of the Committee on Economy and Territorial Cohesion also addressed the request for written testimony from Ricardo Arroja.

Filipe Melo from Chega indicated that the parliamentary group would not submit any written questions, emphasizing the unreasonableness of written responses.

Conversely, Nuno Fazenda of the PS insisted on the need to submit questions in writing.

Other political factions did not comment on this issue.

Consequently, the committee president, Pedro Coimbra, set the deadline for parliamentary groups to submit questions by July 14 at 17:00.

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