A controversial bonus for a female minister causes successive resignations from the Portuguese government

The controversy over a reward obtained by a state minister in Portugal after she left the management of the Public Airlines Company (TAP) and assumed her ministerial portfolio led to two new resignations Thursday from the government, which the opposition demanded clarifications about the file.

After the Secretary of State for the Treasury, Alexandra Reis, was forced to leave the government on Tuesday, the Minister of Infrastructure in charge of the General Aviation Company, Pedro Nuno Santos, as well as the Minister of State in the Ministry, Hugo Santos Mendez, submitted their resignations on Thursday.

Santos justified his resignation by saying that he "assumes his political responsibility. Considering the way the public views this issue."

Controversy has escalated in recent days about "Tapegate", as the newspaper "Diario de Noticias" called it, after revealing the value of the end-of-service bonus (500 thousand euros) that Alexandra Reis benefited from after leaving the board of directors of the general airline in February before the end of her contract.

A few months after leaving the airline, Rees was appointed director of a public company responsible for air traffic control, then joined the government in early December as a state minister in the finance ministry before resigning on Tuesday.

The airline and air traffic control company are under the supervision of the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Reese denied the existence of irregularities in obtaining the reward, saying that she demanded what she was legally entitled to, which was confirmed by the airline.

But the opposition called on the government to explain the terms of its departure from the airline, which is undergoing restructuring that has led to staff cuts and lower wages for many of them.

"We are facing an outbreak of political crises" that cause "instability," said the deputy head of the opposition Social Democratic Party, Paulo Rangel, calling on Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa to explain the issue to parliamentarians "by next week."

And the Liberal Initiative bloc, which includes 8 out of 230 parliamentarians, announced that it would submit a motion of censure.

On the other hand, Environment Minister Duarte Cordero confirmed that "the government is supported by an absolute majority in Parliament and is able to continue to perform its work."

This is not the first time that Nuno Santos has come under heavy criticism over his seven years in office, knowing that he is often presented as a possible successor to the prime minister.

In June, he came under fire from the prime minister after announcing a plan to build a new airport in Lisbon.

Political expert Paula do Espiritu Santo said, in a statement to "Agence France Presse," that this new controversy "inevitably shows the government in a state of weakness," as it "tarnishes its image and undermines its credibility."

"We must learn from this in the future. Anyone who attains public office is subject to a careful scrutiny of his past," said the head of state, Souza Marcelo Rebelo, on Wednesday.

In 2020, it was urgently decided to re-nationalize the Portuguese airline group, whose difficulties were exacerbated during the pandemic, in return for implementing a €3.2 billion restructuring plan imposed by Brussels.

For his part, the head of the Federation of Civil Aviation Pilots, Thiago Faria-Lopez, who objects to the measures of the bailout plan, demanded the resignation of the French general manager of the company, Christine Ormier-Widener.

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