🇵🇹 Portugal's politics and elections 3.0

[Mike88]

Intercampus poll for CMTV/CM newspaper on the controversial government Housing package:

Q1: Who's to blame for the current housing crisis?

47.0% The Government
14.2% Banks
13.4% Local government
11.7% Owners
14.7% Undecided

Q2: Will the government policies solve the housing crisis?

74.9% No
12.2% Yes
12.9% Undecided

Q3: Do you agree with the mandatory lease of vacant houses?

59.2% No
29.9% Yes
10.9% Undecided

Q4: Do you think the State can manage vacant houses?

75.5% No
14.4% Yes
10.1% Undecided

Poll conducted between 9 and 15 March 2023. Polled 613 voters. MoE of 4.00%.

This poll was published one day before President Marcelo's "total bashing" of the government's proposed housing package. On a conference this Monday, Marcelo said that the package is so bad that it would had been better to do nothing instead, adding that in its current form it is "inoperable" and "unenforceable" and that the package is more like a "poster law", meaning that the goal is just propaganda and not putting into practice anything.

Before Marcelo, during last weekend, former President and PM Cavaco Silva also trashed the package, accusing the government of "inertia and lack of credibility" to speak about housing policy after 7 years of doing nothing. Cavaco's words against the plan were received with fury by the PS, which accuse the former President and PM of having a "destructive spirit" against the government and of giving "bizarre" comments.

[VPH]

What a strange shift--if anything I would have expected it to be low-education middle-aged and older voters in rural areas, following the trends we've seen in other Western European countries. I know Portugal is somewhat of an anomaly with less educated voters still supporting the left, but it's no longer the anomaly it was until recently when it comes to right-wing populists in parliament.

Just guessing, but perhaps owing to the later entry into democracy, trends that happen elsewhere come later? PPD/PSD speedran the transition from left-leaning social democracy to neoconservatism from Carneiro to Cavaco that other Christian Democratic parties underwent during a longer period postwar.

Because of Portugal's long term similarity to Greece I might be able to explain.

Both Greece and Portugal are very urban, 40% of their population lives in just 2 large cities.

The greek countryside, apart from the tourist areas, became impoverished and abandoned during the 20th century and the population fled to the Capital in search of government aid and public sector jobs.

So because most live in dense cities and depend on the government, the Center Left in various forms has been dominant.

However since the beggining of the 21st century the center-left establishment that has governed since 1974, has been unable to reverse declining living standards in urban areas.

So the population is increasingly looking to the opposite side, to the right wing parties for leadership and policies to reverse the decline, if those can be found.

In a word: They blame those groups who have been in charge all these decades.

That's how it looks in Greece, and I think it probably applies to Portugal too given the similar demographics and economy.

It is younger people in urban areas who suffer the most from chronically low wages, ridiculous rent prices and the cost of living in general.

Of course, you could argue Chega's policies will do nothing to alleviate those issues, but a vote for Chega is a middle finger to the PS government and that's the message they want to pass.

The shift of the PSD from "social democrat" to a normal liberal conservative party was faster because it was already one, the issue was the environment around the revolution that basically banned any conservative/liberal type speech. So, in order to have success, you had to follow the rule book until it didn't matter anymore, which started by 1976. In fact, the PPD, in 1975, had a lot of support from the Catholic Church, very important in rural areas, and from more urban liberal aligned voters.

It's true that their base was more right-leaning than PS from the beginning, especially including landowners and voters in the North who tended to be more religious. But Sá Carneiro early on spoke a discourse of the center-left, even talking about building democratic socialism very early on. Pretty quickly they pushed against the PCP and other leftists and became social democrats, but PPD even applied to join Socialist International (which was bound to be rejected because Mario Soares had spent years building up international relationships for PS). The book "Francisco Sá Carneiro - O Guia da Direita Liberal" by Ana Catarina Pinto provides a very well-researched legislative history of the PPD and Carneiro.

[Mike88]

It's true that their base was more right-leaning than PS from the beginning, especially including landowners and voters in the North who tended to be more religious. But Sá Carneiro early on spoke a discourse of the center-left, even talking about building democratic socialism very early on. Pretty quickly they pushed against the PCP and other leftists and became social democrats, but PPD even applied to join Socialist International (which was bound to be rejected because Mario Soares had spent years building up international relationships for PS). The book "Francisco Sá Carneiro - O Guia da Direita Liberal" by Ana Catarina Pinto provides a very well-researched legislative history of the PPD and Carneiro.

Yes, Sá Carneiro started on with a very strong tone in favour of the "path to Socialism", and there's even documentation that shows that Soares and Sá Carneiro had talks about what kind of parties would they form and that Sá Carneiro even toyed with idea of forming an "alliance" between PS and PPD, something that Soares always rejected. But, Sá Carneiro started changing his tone after 76 and became more and more moderate as he understood that his base was anything but leftwing. This, of course, created tensions within the PSD and adding his fragile health, Sá Carneiro resigned from the leadership in 1977. After this, the more leftwing factions of the party took over the leadership and a split was imminent. It happened in 1978, with the "Unpostponable Options" manifesto and 40 or so PSD MPs left the party and formed their own center-left party. By then, the fate of the PSD was settled: Sá Carneiro returned to the leadership and started negotiations to form a "democratic majority" against the leftwing majority. In 1979, the Democratic Alliance (AD) was formed between PSD, CDS, PPM and the Reformers, PS dissidents.

[VPH]

It's true that their base was more right-leaning than PS from the beginning, especially including landowners and voters in the North who tended to be more religious. But Sá Carneiro early on spoke a discourse of the center-left, even talking about building democratic socialism very early on. Pretty quickly they pushed against the PCP and other leftists and became social democrats, but PPD even applied to join Socialist International (which was bound to be rejected because Mario Soares had spent years building up international relationships for PS). The book "Francisco Sá Carneiro - O Guia da Direita Liberal" by Ana Catarina Pinto provides a very well-researched legislative history of the PPD and Carneiro.

Yes, Sá Carneiro started on with a very strong tone in favour of the "path to Socialism", and there's even documentation that shows that Soares and Sá Carneiro had talks about what kind of parties would they form and that Sá Carneiro even toyed with idea of forming an "alliance" between PS and PPD, something that Soares always rejected. But, Sá Carneiro started changing his tone after 76 and became more and more moderate as he understood that his base was anything but leftwing. This, of course, created tensions within the PSD and adding his fragile health, Sá Carneiro resigned from the leadership in 1977. After this, the more leftwing factions of the party took over the leadership and a split was imminent. It happened in 1978, with the "Unpostponable Options" manifesto and 40 or so PSD MPs left the party and formed their own center-left party. By then, the fate of the PSD was settled: Sá Carneiro returned to the leadership and started negotiations to form a "democratic majority" against the leftwing majority. In 1979, the Democratic Alliance (AD) was formed between PSD, CDS, PPM and the Reformers, PS dissidents.

With a fun PS-CDS coalition in there for a bit too haha

[Mike88]

It's true that their base was more right-leaning than PS from the beginning, especially including landowners and voters in the North who tended to be more religious. But Sá Carneiro early on spoke a discourse of the center-left, even talking about building democratic socialism very early on. Pretty quickly they pushed against the PCP and other leftists and became social democrats, but PPD even applied to join Socialist International (which was bound to be rejected because Mario Soares had spent years building up international relationships for PS). The book "Francisco Sá Carneiro - O Guia da Direita Liberal" by Ana Catarina Pinto provides a very well-researched legislative history of the PPD and Carneiro.

Yes, Sá Carneiro started on with a very strong tone in favour of the "path to Socialism", and there's even documentation that shows that Soares and Sá Carneiro had talks about what kind of parties would they form and that Sá Carneiro even toyed with idea of forming an "alliance" between PS and PPD, something that Soares always rejected. But, Sá Carneiro started changing his tone after 76 and became more and more moderate as he understood that his base was anything but leftwing. This, of course, created tensions within the PSD and adding his fragile health, Sá Carneiro resigned from the leadership in 1977. After this, the more leftwing factions of the party took over the leadership and a split was imminent. It happened in 1978, with the "Unpostponable Options" manifesto and 40 or so PSD MPs left the party and formed their own center-left party. By then, the fate of the PSD was settled: Sá Carneiro returned to the leadership and started negotiations to form a "democratic majority" against the leftwing majority. In 1979, the Democratic Alliance (AD) was formed between PSD, CDS, PPM and the Reformers, PS dissidents.

With a fun PS-CDS coalition in there for a bit too haha

Ah yes, that weird 7 month PS-CDS coalition, the famous "putting socialism in the drawer". During that period, relations between PSD and CDS actually turned sour, as before the coalition took office, PSD and CDS were talking about forming somekind of an alliance. Those talks would resume in late 1978.

[Mike88]

A few updates:

- André Ventura's, CHEGA leader, spiritual advisor was removed due to accusations of sexual abuse. The priest, however, denies the accusation:

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1638838569061224448

André Ventura's spiritual advisor removed due to an abuse accusation: "Imputations are totally false" and "slanderous", says the priest

The Catholic Church ongoing sexual abuse scandal is tarnashing the image of the Church due to disastrous decisions, positions and embarrassing U-turns. After rejecting to remove priests suspected of abuses, the Church was forced to remove several priests as public outcry was overwhelming. One of the priests removed is André Ventura's spiritual advisor, Priest Mário Rui Pedras. A priest at a Lisbon parish, Mr Pedras was removed by the Lisbon Patriarchy because his name appears in the list of priests suspected of committing sexual abuses, but the priest is outraged by the accusation calling it a "anonymous, false, and slanderous report" and even wrote a letter to his faithfull that he did nothing wrong.

- U-turns in government policy? Costa now considers reducing VAT on food prices and increasing public sector workers wages:

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1638690179090354176

Less VAT, more salaries and Marcelo like never before in a parliamentary debate

With the government "under fire" due to the criticisms towards the housing package, PM Costa arrived to the Q&A debate, yesterday, in Parliament with a series of proposals. The PM announced that the he's considering lowering VAT on food prices to stop the surge of prices, but only after talking with food distributors and only if it indeed lowers the final price to consumers. This is a considerable U-turn from the PM, as Costa, and his ministers, have been trashing the Spanish VAT reduction and that it would never be a solution. What happened for this change in opinion? No one knows. The PM also announced he's willing to negotiate with unions on an increase in public sector wages as the 2022 inflation was 0.4% higher than what was predicted by the government. According to the media, this could mean that pubic sector workers could have an increase of... 3 euros per month. A final solution will only be presented next week, and a wider relief package for families and businesses is expected to be present during the next few days.

Costa also took the opportunity to "respond" to President Marcelo's bashing against the government's controversial housing package. Costa said that in some functions, some people only "talk and talk and do nothing" but that he, on the contrary, has to take decisions. He also attacked former President and PM Cavaco Silva for signing a bill, in 2014, that opens the door for mandatory lease of vacant building in extreme cases, pointing that the PSD also has "Marxists". Pundits argue that some of Costa's attacks don't make much sense, specially the one regarding the mandatory lease, but that his attacks towards Marcelo could be the beginning of a more "conflicting" relationship between President and PM. We'll see.

- TAP, TAP, TAP: Once again the airline in on the news as João Galamba, Infrastructure minister, flip-flops regarding a possible bonus to the now fired TAP CEO:

https://twitter.com/cnnportugal/status/1638653303738482688

João Galamba went back on his words about the bonus that will be paid to the president of TAP, depending on compliance with the restructuring plan.

A month ago, the minister had said that the president of TAP would only be entitled to the bonus if the company returned the money to the Portuguese. Now, at last, he admits that Christine Ourmières-Widener might still get the money.

TAP airlines continues to be a major headache, to everyone. After the government fired the current TAP CEO, Christine Ourmières-Widener, due to her role in the dismissal and payment to former Treasury secretary Alexandra Reis, and said she would not receive a penny in compensation, the government is now flip-flopping. In a Parliamentary committee, João Galamba, Infrastructure minister, said that Ms. Widener has the right for a bonus if the company's objectives were reached. The statement surprised MPs. We'll see what the next episodes show.

An Aximage poll for TSF radio and JN/DN newspapers shows that 66% approve the firing of the TAP CEO, but that 55% also want Finance minister Fernando Medina to be fired from Government for his role in the whole affair. Just 27% say he should remain in cabinet.

[Mike88]

A final solution will only be presented next week, and a wider relief package for families and businesses is expected to be present during the next few days.

Government presents new relief package for families with 0% VAT on food, 1% wage increase for public workers and a 45 euros monthly support for poorer families:

https://twitter.com/TSFRadio/status/1639244689827315713

Government announces "zero VAT" on basket of essential goods

After Costa's announcement in Parliament, with several surprising "U-turns", the government, by the voice of the ministers of Finance, Presidency and Social Security, presented a new relief package for families that are suffering with the impact of inflation and the rising cost of living. Just 4 measures were announced and they are the following:

- 0% VAT on essential food goods but only after negotiating with food distributors and producers;
- Increase in the food allowance for public workers from 5,20 euros per day to 6 euros per day;
- 1% increase in public workers wages;
- Support for poorer families: 30 euros per month, until October, with an additional 15 euros for every child;

The cost of the package is around 2.5 billion euros and, according to the government, could benefit up to 3 million people. The package was announced after the publication of the 2022 budget numbers that showed a -0.4% deficit, the government predicted 1.9%, and public debt at 113.9%.

Also, during the press conference of the ministers a weird thing happened: PM Costa literally "ran over" his minister's conference and did his own press conference at the end of the European Council in Brussels. TV coverage started ignoring the relief package announcement and focused on the PM's press conference, who is also in the middle of a "couple's feud" with President Marcelo. Costa didn't want to comment on the measures saying that any clarification is the responsibility of the ministers and that he interrupted the relief package announcement because he was in a hurry and had a plane to catch to take him to the Dominican Republic.

[Mike88]

A final solution will only be presented next week, and a wider relief package for families and businesses is expected to be present during the next few days.

Government presents new relief package for families with 0% VAT on food, 1% wage increase for public workers and a 45 euros monthly support for poorer families:

PM Costa unveils list of 44 food items that will have 0% VAT after negotiating with producers and food distributors:

After last week surprise announcement of VAT cuts on some basic food items, PM Costa unveiled, this afternoon, the list of food items that will have 0% VAT. The items go from milk and eggs to fruit like bananas and apples. During the weekend, frenetic negotiations between producers and food distributors took place, mainly by phone, and directed exclusively by the PM's office, nor the Agriculture and the Economy ministers were directly involved. The VAT cut will cost 400 million euros and it will be implemented 15 days after it is approved by Parliament and published in the official government bulletin. The cuts are expected to last until October.

The media, however, is receiving this measure with lukewarm support. Pundits and economists say that this it's better than nothing, but that it may be "too little, too late", as consumers will probably save very little and that the government's dramatic U-turn on VAT cuts is evidence of an "erratic" government that just wants to improve its image and that the signs don't bode well for the future. We'll see.

[Mike88]

Man mortally stabs two people in the Lisbon's Ismaili Center. Suspect was shot by the police:

Parties have been reacting to the attack on the Ismaili Center. All express their condolences to the Ismaili community and that the act of violence itself deserves full condemnation. All, except CHEGA with Ventura saying that Costa has "blood on his hands" due to his immigration policies:

- PM Costa hailed the prompt response from the police and gave his condolences to the Ismaili community, adding that any statement of the motivations of this attack is premature;

- PSD leader and LO Luís Montenegro, says that this is a "hideous crime" that should have an exemplar punishment. He also expressed his solidarity to the Ismaili community and the police;

- IL leader Rui Rocha expressed his condemnation of the violent attack and gave his condolences to the families of the victims;

- BE leader Catarina Martins says she's perplexed by the news of the attack and expresses her support to the Ismaili community;

- André Ventura, CHEGA leader, didn't express any sorrow or condemned the attack, only accused PM Costa of having "blood on his hands" because of his "open borders policy" without control;

[Mike88]

Ventura's comments regarding the attack at the Ismaili Center, yesterday, in Lisbon are being trashed left to right and this afternoon, in Parliament, Ventura brought the attack to debate, the debate was about the VAT 0% proposal but anyway, and because of that, he exceeded his speaking time which led, once again, Speaker Augusto Santos Silva to intervene in a rather "original way":

https://twitter.com/BlessingMSL/status/1641099724164825090

André Ventura (AV): These Portuguese...

(Protests from MPs)

AV: These Portuguese, unlike others...

AV: Mr. President, I ask for a 40 second discount because the PS is just impossible...

(Protests from MPs)

Speaker Santos Silva (SSS): The honorable Member is moving towards quadrupling the time allotted to a request for clarification. Therefore, I ask that the honorable Member be able to finish his request for clarification. I ask all benches, especially that of the Socialist Party, to allow the deputy to exercise his right to speak and that we all treat the furniture well. Please Mr Deputy. I ask the services to withdraw 20 seconds from Deputy André Ventura.

AV: You sound like a banker Mr. President. 20 seconds?

SSS: You know, if the honorable Member allows me, one of the most famous sermons of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha, was a sermon in which he was silent contemplating a flower. The honorable Member could take inspiration... Please proceed.

Laughter erupts across the hall and Ventura is seen shaking his head.

[Mike88]

Another U-turn? Government "relaxes" the most controversial policies in the final draft of the housing package:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1641487049122361347

Government presents the "More Housing" package approved by the Council of Ministers at a press conference

In a tent, which some parties called an "irony", and with a loud airbnb owners protest in the background, the government announced the final draft of the controversial housing package. The original package received criticisms from all sides, at the point that the only one defending the policies was just the government. Even the PS was uncomfortable with the policies. And because of this, PM Costa decided to "relax" some of the policies: the most controversial ones, the mandatory lease of vacant buildings and the ban on new Airbnbs, with a new tax over them, were softened as the mandatory lease will basically be responsibility of local governments, as well the limits for new Airbnbs, with the tax rate lowered from the original 35% to 20%. The government will also release State owned land and properties for private and public housing development and reduce taxes for owners who want to lease their property.

The media's reaction is that this is a total "U-turn" from the government as it now puts full responsibility on the execution of the package on local governments. Despite pundits agreeing that President Marcelo was crucial for the "reversal" of some policies, many argue that this "U-turn" may also make the package even more difficult to implement as local governments don't have the means to do several things that the government is proposing. One curious note, Madeira and Azores, both controlled by the PSD and who refused to implement the original government proposals, are exempt in implementing some policies, specially regarding Airbnbs.

[Mike88]

GfK/Metris/ICS/ISCTE poll for Expresso newspaper/SIC TV:

Vote share %:

30% PS (-7)
30% PSD (+1)
13% CHEGA (+4)
  5% BE (-2)
  5% CDU (nc)
  4% IL (+2)
  2% PAN (-1)
  2% CDS (+2)
  1% Livre (+1)
  3% Others (-2)
  5% Blank/Invalid (+2)

Popularity ratings: (between 0 and 10)

6.5 Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (-0.5)
4.6 António Costa (-0.8 )
4.2 Luís Montenegro (-0.3)
4.1 Catarina Martins (-0.3)
3.5 Rui Tavares (-0.3)
3.4 André Ventura (+0.4)
3.3 Inês Sousa Real (-0.5)
3.2 Paulo Raimundo (-0.4)
3.1 Rui Rocha (new)

Government's approval:

64% Bad/Very bad (+12)
29% Good/Very good (-12)
  6% Undecided (nc)

Poll conducted between 11 and 20 March 2023. Polled 807 voters. MoE of 3.50%.

[Mike88]

The new Euthanasia bill will, once again, be delayed because of a complaint from CHEGA:

Parliament rejected CHEGA's complaint and sent the bill to President Marcelo. Marcelo, almost immediately, sent the bill to the Constitutional Court:

Constitutional Court rules as unconstitutional, again, the new Euthanasia law:

6th attempt to legalize Euthanasia: Parliament approves new draft bill to be sent to President Marcelo.

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1641774366483525636

Assisted death: Approved the fourth version of medically assisted death. It heads to Belém after Easter

The 6th attempt in the last 5 years and the 4th approval by Parliament of the legalization of Euthanasia in Portugal was held this afternoon. The vote was very similar to previous ones, with a few PS MPs voting against and a few PSD MPs voting in favour. The rest, CHEGA and PCP voted against while IL, BE, PAN and Livre voted in favour. The results were as follows:

129 In favour (108 PS; 8 IL; 6 PSD; 5 BE; 1 PAN; 1 Livre)
  86 Against (64 PSD; 12 CHEGA; 5 PCP; 5 PS)
    2 Abstention (1 PS; 1 PSD)
  13 Absent (6 PS; 6 PSD; 1 PCP)

The new draft bill will now be sent to President Marcelo for approval, veto or submission to the Courts. Pundits believe that the most likely scenario is the President deciding to sent the bill to the Constitutional Court again. The main change on this new draft bill is that Euthanasia will only be allowed if the physical incapacity of a person bars assisted medical suicide. However, this change in the bill wasn't that unanimous between some MPs, specially within the PS, as some have doubts about the new draft.

[Mike88]

Housing crisis: Protest in Lisbon for affordable housing draws around 20,000 to the streets but ended in clashes with the police.

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1642245728809684992

Clashes between police and protesters in Lisbon

Another weekend, more protests. With the housing crisis on the center of the political debate, and with the government's housing package in the background, that is being trashed, again, by all sides, several community organizations held protests in cities across the country in defense for affordable housing and better wages. The protests had overall a bit of a low turnout in most cities, but in Lisbon city around 20,000 protesters went to the streets. Organizations criticize the governments policies even accusing PM Costa of "rehearsing a collage" to the protest which they repudiate. They accuse Costa of "throwing sand into people's eyes" and of being part of the problem and not the solution.

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1642309640707776513

At the end of the afternoon, the demonstration for housing in Lisbon, until then peaceful, escalated to clashes between the police and the demonstrators.

See some of the images from the clashes and read more:

However, at the end of the protest in Lisbon, there were clashes between the police and a few protesters as two women were taken by the police for disorderly conduct. This created very tense moments and the police used force to control the situation. During the protest, several supermarkets and bank agencies were also vandalized by protesters. Two police officers were also injured during the clashes.

[Mike88]

Change in tone in the PSD? Montenegro could announce that he will reject any deal or talks with CHEGA:

https://twitter.com/SolOnline/status/1642488567787036675

Montenegro excludes agreements with Chega

The PSD's ambiguity in terms of future deals or talks with CHEGA have been haunting the party for years now, with both Rio and Montenegro, so far, maintaining a doubt of what will the party do in the eventuality of a rightwing majority in a future elections. But, Sol newspaper reports this weekend that Montenegro told his European congeners, in the last EPP meeting a days ago, that he will not pursue any deal or government talks with CHEGA. The newspaper reports that the PSD leadership acknowledges that CHEGA is "eating up" votes that should have come the PSD and that the only solution is to say to voters that the party is the only alternative to the PS and that scattering votes in CHEGA and IL is a mistake. A public announcement could be made in the coming days or weeks.

Indeed, Ventura's inflammatory reaction and remarks in the aftermath of the Muslim Ismaili Center attack last week, had also very negative reactions in the PSD and a debate, on CNN Portugal, between Ventura and the PSD Secretary General Hugo Soares was quite tense with strong accusations between both men:

https://twitter.com/123Gasp/status/1641059822685569024

Hugo Soares (HS): We are a country that should be a reference in this, because we are also a country of immigrants...

André Ventura (AV): Why don't you defend that in Europe?

HS: We defend this everywhere...

AV: No, no. You're mistaken.

HS: I'm going to tell you and I will mark a line that is separating us. You know what line it is?

AV: What's the line?

HS: I will tell you: It's opportunism.

AV: Is that so?

HS: It's decency in these things. I'm incapable of trying to gain a vote based on a tragedy...

AV: No. You're incapable in controlling our territory.

HS: André, listen until the end. I know it hurts. I'm incapable of gaining a vote at the expense of a tragedy and human misery...

AV: No one is doing that...

HS: They say that everyone has their hands bloodstained. I don't see myself in this speech. This is a speech that incites hate, it's not serious and André let me tell you this, it's not decent.

We'll see what comes out of this. I will only believe it when I see it.

[Mike88]

A few stories:

- VAT 0% on basic food items: Government hires private companies to inspect if the tax is being reduced.

With many still doubting the efficiency of this policy, the media is publishing that the Government has hired two private companies, Euroteste and Consulai, in order to inspect and publish info on food prices. These companies will follow if the deal between the government and food distributors is being fulfilled. This hiring will cost almost 300,000 euros to the State coffers.

- Tomorrow, the now-resigned CEO of TAP airlines, Christine Ourmières-Widener, will appear in the special Parliamentary Committee that is investigating the case surrounding Alexandra Reis compensation from the airline. This Committee, that began last week, already had a few "weird" moments:

The General Inspection of Finance (IGF) director, which wrote the report that prompted the government to fire Ms. Widener, said that he indeed didn't interview personally Ms. Widener because she is French and that her low knowledge of the Portuguese language would have given her excuses to not respond to some questions.

The airline's CFO, Gonçalo Pires, also went to the Committee and told MPs that he wasn't aware at all of the deal to give 500,000 euros in compensation to Alexandra Reis. But, TVI published a series of WhatsApp messages in which Mr. Pires was fully aware of the deal and that the airline CEO even asked him to pretend that he was unaware of the whole deal. The WhatsApp messages also reveal the full extent of the knowledge that former minister Pedro Nuno Santos (PNS) had of the deal as the messages between Ms. Widener and PNS's office show the minister being updated by the hour and even refusing the first proposed compensation, 1,5 million euros. These revelations seem, again, to contradict the story that PNS forgot about the deal and was only reminded of it after founding the phone messages back in late January.

[Mike88]

- Tomorrow, the now-resigned CEO of TAP airlines, Christine Ourmières-Widener, will appear in the special Parliamentary Committee that is investigating the case surrounding Alexandra Reis compensation from the airline.

Well, the testimony in the Committee was quite something. In an almost 7-hour long hearing, Ms. Widener accused the government of making her a "scapegoat" for internal government wars and that Alexandra Reis left TAP because she was "misaligned" with the board. She confirmed emails and WhatsApp messages that show that both the company's CFO and Chairman were fully aware of Ms. Reis compensation deal. Accusations of perjury from the company's CFO are already starting. She also accused ministers Medina and Galamba of destroying her reputation on live television. But other stories were revealed in her testimony:

- She confirmed that she had a "meeting" with PS MPs and a few junior government members one day before her January testimony in Parliament, which surprised Opposition MPs as this is not normal. This meeting seems to have been schedule by João Galamba's, Infrastructure minister, office. Ms. Widener also identified a PS MP that was in that meeting and was also sitting in the Committee questioning her, MP Carlos Pereira from Madeira;

- She also confirmed government pressures and acknowledge she was surprised by the amount of them. One of those pressures was a request by the then Infrastructure secretary, Hugo Mendes, to change a flight to Mozambique in order to accommodate an official trip of President Marcelo. The then Secretary pressed the company's CEO with the argument that "We cannot run the risk of losing the political support of the PR, which has been supportive of TAP, but if his mood changes, all is lost." In the end, the flight wasn't changed and she revealed her response to the Secretary that if one day this were to be revealed, "it won't be good for anyone.";

- Ms. Widener revealed she had a meeting with Finance minister Fernando Medina the day before the press conference in which he publicly fired her. She said that Medina said the situation was complicated and asked her to resign. She said the tone of the meeting was sad, that Medina hailed her good job as a CEO but that the pressures by all sides were so big that the only possible solution was her dismissal;

- She refused to resign and says that her firing was illegal, adding that she will fight for her bonus as she accomplished the goal of presenting profits for TAP in 2022;

- She also revealed that she had a meeting with João Galamba, Infrastructure minister, on the morning of the same day she was fired, which lasted 10-15 minutes and that she was told a "decision was made" but wasn't given any details of her dismissal, adding that she knew the reasons for her dismissal like everyone else, from the live TV press conference;

Tomorrow, the hearing of the woman in the center of this whole scandal will be held: Alexandra Reis. This will be her first public appearance since resigning from the Government in December 2022.

[Mike88]

Tomorrow, the hearing of the woman in the center of this whole scandal will be held: Alexandra Reis. This will be her first public appearance since resigning from the Government in December 2022.

The highly awaited hearing of former TAP executive and Secretary of Treasury Alexandra Reis was held this afternoon until late into the evening.

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1643842526518951936

TAP: A month later, Alexandra Reis does not know how much she has to pay back, nor does the CEO leave TAP

In the hearing, MPs grilled Ms. Reis on why was she fired from TAP airlines. Ms. Reis started to say that she has asked TAP where can she return the 500,000 euros in compensation she received, but, after 3 successive attempts, she had no response either from the airline or the government. She went on to say that she was totally unaware that she was going to be fired and that her lawyers were the ones involved in the process. She stated that she still doesn't understand why she was fired, pressing that she was fired for "convenience", but detailed a series of stories of "clashes" between her the the airline's CEO, Christine Ourmières-Widener. The main were the following:

- Ms. Reis blocked a proposed deal between TAP and Ms. Widener husband's business;

- The negotiations for TAP to renovate its fleet of cars created "divisions" between Ms. Reis and the CEO and in the end no new cars were bought;

- A case of a chauffeur also seems to have created a problem between both women. It seems that Ms. Widener, and her family, were using the company's car for rides and tourism sightseeings across Lisbon and that the chauffeur in question may have had commented these cases which almost led to his firing, even though that, according to Ms. Reis, the real case regarding this chauffeur was that he wasn't vaccinated against Covid;

- The change of headquarters and the hiring of many foreign staff, mainly French, to the TAP board also created more divisions between Ms. Reis and Ms. Widener;

Ms. Reis added that she had little contact with government members and said that her 500,000 compensation was not brought up by Fernando Medina when he invited her to become Secretary of the Treasury in late 2022. She confirmed to the Committee that she was unaware of the proposed changes in the board and that she was surprised when the company's CEO said she had to leave the airline. She also said that she disagrees with the IGF report, that is forcing her to repay TAP airlines, as the law says that any executive in a public company is entitle to a compensation if she/he has worked for more than 12 months, which was Ms. Reis case.

The reactions from pundits and the media is that these two hearing are demolishing the government's image, as it paints an "infantile", "amateur" and "incompetent" government that is not capable of dealing with a major company or even people. The stories of government pressures over TAP airlines and the revelation that TAP's CEO had a "secret" meeting with PS MPs and government staff before a January hearing are being very criticized by pundits and embarrassing even more the government.

[Mike88]

President Marcelo is "furious" by the revelations in the TAP Parliamentary Committee and talked to parties warning them that snap elections could be inevitable:

The last two hearings in the TAP Parliamentary Committee seem to have shaken the government to its core. The media is reporting, this Thursday, that President Marcelo is furious by the way the government talks about him in emails and WhatsApp messages and also labels the "secret meeting" between the TAP CEO and PS MPs+government staff before a Parliamentary hearing as very serious. According to the same media, the President talked with parties during Wednesday and told them that the situation is very serious, that the government could be irreparably damaged and that snap general elections could be inevitable. Also yesterday, the Presidency of the Republic sent a statement denying any role in the controversial, and weird, change of a flight to benefit President Marcelo, something that now seems to have been a sole government initiative.

Take everything with a grain of salt, but the situation right now is very tense and nothing looks good.

[Mike88]

- She confirmed that she had a "meeting" with PS MPs and a few junior government members one day before her January testimony in Parliament, which surprised Opposition MPs as this is not normal. This meeting seems to have been schedule by João Galamba's, Infrastructure minister, office. Ms. Widener also identified a PS MP that was in that meeting and was also sitting in the Committee questioning her, MP Carlos Pereira from Madeira;

This "secret" meeting is now the "hot topic" of the moment here in Portugal. First, the PS MP that Ms. Widener said was present in that meeting, Carlos Pereira, tried to downplay the meeting saying it was nothing out of the ordinary and everything was normal. Then, the Parliamentary Affairs minister, Ana Catarina Mendes, was thrown on to this topic as her office acknowledge that they made "the bridge" between the TAP CEO and the PS caucus.

Then, Infrastructure minister, João Galamba, said that it was the TAP CEO who wanted to attend the meeting. But, this raises the question: If she asked to be part of the meeting, it's because she was aware that a PS caucus meeting would be held on that day. Who informed her then? No answer, so far.

Now, TVI is reporting that Ms Widener was indeed invited to join the meeting at the request of Ana Catarina Mendes office. In fact, Minister Galamba, in his statement, also "blames" her cabinet colleague for the invitation.

The media and pundits are criticizing the total contradictory statements by the different ministers, which look like they are, desperately, trying to save their own skin. The PS and the government are refusing to give more details about this meeting, which adds more fuel to the theory that the TAP CEO had, in fact, a preparatory/media training meeting with a party that was going to ask her questions, on a Parliamentary Committee, on the following day.

[Mike88]

Before BE's leadership convention on late May, PAN will also hold a leadership ballot:

PAN has announced that a leadership ballot will be held on 20 May 2023. There are two candidates for the leadership, so far: Inês Sousa Real, incumbent leader, and Nelson Silva, former MP between 2019 and 2022.

Inês Sousa Real has been very criticized for her strategy and bad election and polling results, plus scandals regarding herself, and Nelson Silva accuses her of transforming PAN into an "irrelevant" party and that now the party needs to be saved. Nelson Silva was the 2nd candidate on the party's list for Lisbon district in the 2022 general elections.

[Mike88]

The government hasn't officially reacted to this story, but Finance minister, Fernando Medina, Ms Reis current "boss", and Infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos, Ms Reis former "boss", have demanded explanations from TAP airlines and evidences that this compensation is legal. We'll see the next episodes of this story.

Remember this "governmental demand" of explanations from TAP airlines, by Medina and Pedro Nuno Santos, way back in late December after the Alexandra Reis was revealed? Well, TAP's response to the government was prepared by... the government:

https://twitter.com/cnnportugal/status/1644678248452829184

Hugo Santos Mendes. It was this Secretary of State who fixed the amount to be paid in compensation to Alexandra Reis and who tried to get TAP to change a flight for Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. But he is now the protagonist of yet another episode of political pressure.

The report had already been given by Observador newspaper mid this week, but, in the middle of other trainwreck stories this one was put a bit on hold. In another revelation from the TAP Parliamentary Committee was that the explanations demanded by the government to explain the 500,000 euros compensation of Alexandra Reis from TAP airlines were prepared by the government, or rather, the final draft of the explanations was approved by the ministry of Pedro Nuno Santos, specifically his secretary of state, Hugo Mendes. In her hearing, TAP's CEO confirmed a meeting between her, the airline's chairman and Secretary of State Hugo Mendes to prepare the response that TAP would give to the government.

Another "trainwreck" story in the TAP soap opera. The hearings of Pedro Nuno Santos and Hugo Mendes in the committee are going to be, at least, interesting.

[Mike88]

After almost a week in silence, PM Costa condemns his former Secretary of State actions:

The first revelations of the TAP Parliamentary Committee, still a lot is probably yet to come, are haunting and hitting hard on the government and the Opposition and the media have been criticizing the PM's silence since early last week. But, this Monday morning, as Costa was set to board a plane to kick off a visit to South Korea, the PM condemned the actions of his former secretary of state, Hugo Mendes, because of the email to change TAP flights in order to please President Marcelo. He said he was totally unaware of that email, but if he had been informed at the time, he would have fired Hugo Mendes "immediately". He added that this kind of behavior is "serious" due to the relationship between Government and President, and "unacceptable" in the relationship that the State should have with public companies.

As expected the Opposition is not happy with Costa's reaction: LO Luís Montenegro accuses Costa of downplaying other cases, like the "secret meeting" between TAP's CEO and PS MPs or the prepared responses that the Government gave to TAP in order to respond to the Government. He accuses Costa of running away from his responsibilities. Pundits and the media say that this could be a first step in Costa assuming some kind of responsibility, but that so far it's too little too late.

[Mike88]

President Marcelo is "furious" by the revelations in the TAP Parliamentary Committee and talked to parties warning them that snap elections could be inevitable:
(...)
Take everything with a grain of salt, but the situation right now is very tense and nothing looks good.

President Marcelo weights in on the ongoing government crisis: Snap elections "don't make much sense", but the president is on "alert".

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1645449294277640192

“The President is not in the pocket, neither of the opposition nor of the Government”, warns Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. To Costa asks that "he governs faster, better and with attention to these situations of attrition". To Montenegro asks to transform the right-wing majority “into a strong enough alternative”. For his part, he promises to “be attentive”. In 2024 we'll see.

After rumours, across the media and said by some pundits, that the President was "furious" and actually suggesting that snap elections could be inevitable, Marcelo publically talked about last week's revelations that are hurting the government. President Marcelo said that, for the moment and specially this year, snap elections don't make much sense because of the war, the economic/social crisis and the EU funds implementation. Nonetheless, the President criticized the government TAP episodes. Regarding the Opposition, Marcelo compared the current situation with the 2004/05 crisis in which President Sampaio dissolved Parliament without the consent of the then PM Santana Lopes, but argued that there were differences like no wars and non elected PMs that faced a strong Opposition party. Marcelo pressed the PSD to present a "strong alternative", something he has been pressing for a few months now. He adds by warning both the Government and the Opposition that neither should "take for granted what they currently have", and that he's always on alert.

The next episodes of the ongoing crisis will continue after the break.

[Mike88]

During the day, other Socialist members joined in with their own statements on the current ongoing government crisis. A quick summary:

https://twitter.com/LilianaValente/status/1645552067593789443

The day started with Costa indignant with Hugo Mendes, went quickly to Costa furious with PNS, had the right to Santos Silva pulling Galamba's ears and ending with César pulling everyone's. I came back today on leave, I wasn't prepared for so much socialist war.