The executive president of TAP said tonight that she was waiting to be fired, but not for just cause, following meeting with João Galamba on the morning of the press conference announcing the exoneration of the company’s presidents.
Christine Ourmières-Widener, who was heard on Tuesday at the TAP inquiry commission, had already said that she had had a meeting with the Minister of Finance on the eve of the press conference where the dismissal with just cause was announced, but that no knew regarding the decision.
After almost seven hours of listening, the manager added that she also had a short meeting of 10 or 15 minutes with the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, on the morning of the press conference, at the request of the executive president of the airline.
“I didn’t know regarding just cause at all before the press conference. I was just waiting to be fired,” said Ourmières-Widener.
In response to socialist deputy Carlos Pereira, who accused the manager of being the only one involved in the process who did not assume responsibility, Christine Ourmières-Widener said she was “very uncomfortable” with those statements, since she only assumes responsibility “for issues in which I am responsible,” he stressed.
Also questioned regarding the appointment of Alexandra Reis as chairman of the Board of Directors of NAV Portugal — Navegação Aérea, following leaving TAP, the manager said that, when she found out, she sent a message to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing where she expressed her surprise at the decision.
Regarding the privatization of TAP, the manager said that the American consultancy Evercore is working on the process, which has not yet started, nine months ago, without a contract, not knowing if any payment has been made for the services.
Christine Ourmières-Widener was the third personality, from a list of around 60, to be heard by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the political supervision of the management of TAP, set up on the initiative of the Bloco de Esquerda.
The still executive president of TAP contested the dismissal and accused the Government of having been in a “political hurry” to dismiss her, according to the defense’s objection, cited by TVI/CNN.
The Government announced, on March 6, that the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF) had concluded that the agreement signed for the early departure of Alexandra Reis from TAP was null and that it was going to ask for the refund of the amounts.
The Ministers of Finance and Infrastructure also announced the dismissal with just cause of the Executive Chairman of TAP, Christine Ourmières-Widener, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Manuel Beja.
Verification by the IGF of the legality of the compensation paid to Alexandra Reis was determined on December 27 last year by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, and by the then Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos.
In December, Alexandra Reis took office as Secretary of State for the Treasury, and then the controversy erupted over the compensation she received when she left the state-owned airline, leading to a reshuffle in the Government, including the departure of Pedro Nuno Santos, who was replaced by João Galamba.
