“We decided to meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays after the plenary, starting at 5:00 PM. The plenary does not have to end. We can start the committee’s work even while the plenary is ongoing. Therefore, it was scheduled for Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5:00 PM every week,” stated Marta Martins da Silva, president of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and deputy of Chega, to Lusa.
Speaking after a table meeting and coordinators in parliament, Marta Silva explained the decision of the parliamentary groups, noting that “many deputies” are from outside and need to return to their districts on Friday.
Regarding a possible suspension of activities between October 1 and 12 due to the municipal elections, Chega’s deputy said there is “that possibility,” but the decision “must be made in a plenary meeting of the committee” on Wednesday.
Marta Silva also mentioned that parties must submit by the close of business next Monday the lists of individuals they wish to hear.
On July 11, the proposal from the Liberal Initiative (IL) for the formation of this Parliamentary Inquiry Committee was approved with votes from Chega, IL, Livre, PCP, BE, PAN, and JPP, while PSD, PS, and CDS-PP abstained.
The committee consists of 24 deputies: eight from PSD, five from Chega, five from PS, two from IL, and two from Livre, as well as one from PCP and another from CDS-PP.
The deputies have 90 days to investigate the political, technical, contractual, legal, and financial responsibilities related to INEM, including during the strike at the end of October and beginning of November 2024.
The investigation will also “analyze, in detail, the management decisions made in preparation for and during the strike, with special attention to their adequacy and impact on the functioning of the service” and “scrutinize the political responsibility of the various participants in the strike, including the role of different entities in defining and meeting minimum service standards.”
The committee will also “evaluate the relationship of the different political tutelages with INEM and clarify the intervention” of all governments since 2019 in “their respective political and financial management.”
