The Socialist party members of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the political management of TAP are all available for meetings from Monday to Friday, the leader of the Socialist bench, Eurico Brilhante Dias, said on Thursday.
Speaking to journalists in parliament, Eurico Brilhante Dias repeated several times that the PS was willing, referring to one of the reasons given by socialist deputy Jorge Seguro Sanches in his letter of resignation as chairman of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into TAP.
As for the extension of the deadline for this parliamentary enquiry beyond the deadline of 23 May, the PS parliamentary leader referred the matter to the sphere of the parliamentary committee of enquiry.
“This is a matter that they will discuss, I will not give an opinion on this, it is their independence. As a parliamentary leader, my emphasis is different: everyone is available to work from Monday to Friday,” he stressed.
In his letter of resignation as chairman of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Political Supervision of TAP’s Management, read out at the meeting by social democrat Paulo Rios de Oliveira, PS member Jorge Seguro Sanches regretted the lack of “consensus to hold meetings on Monday and Friday afternoons”.
Responding to this point, the PS parliamentary leader said that “all PS MPs without exception” who are part of the committee of inquiry into TAP have assured him that “they are available to work from Monday to Friday”.
“The main task of an MP is to serve the community, and at a time when we have to ascertain the truth and the whole truth, that is the priority. And those MPs, I stress, are available to work Monday to Friday in the parliamentary committee of inquiry” he repeated.
When asked if he thought that the conditions were in place for this parliamentary commission of enquiry to do a good job, Eurico Brilhante Dias replied that the Socialists would continue “to ensure that the parliamentary commission of inquiry works and ascertains the truth”, adding: “Now, we will not tolerate the degradation of the institutions”.
“I myself, who am out, consider that some decisions on the object of the parliamentary commission of inquiry may be debatable, but I will not interfere, that is a decision of the parliamentary commission of inquiry. We have to provide the conditions for it to function and not get bogged down in a party-political fight that does not contribute to ascertaining the truth. And in this aspect, we will not collude nor will we contribute to that”, he added.
