LISBON (Reuters) – Portuguese Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos has stepped down, his office said on Thursday, following a public backlash over a hefty severance pay a secretary of state received from state-owned airline TAP, which fell under his remit.
Coming amid a cost-of-living crisis, the case of Alexandra Reis, the treasury secretary of state, who quit on Wednesday, has embarrassed the Socialist government of premier Antonio Costa since the 500,000-euro ($531,450) compensation was reported.
Opposition parties have sharply criticised the government’s lax hiring practices and demanded that Reis be sacked and return the money paid by TAP over ceasing her functions as a board member on mutual agreement last February.
Reis, who only took over the Treasury department on Dec. 2, argued she had demanded what she was legally entitled to, as the government and the airline later confirmed.
“The entire process was monitored by TAP’s legal services and by an external law firm … with no information being sent on the existence of legal doubts surrounding the agreement being signed,” the government said.
Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negocios said the Infrastructure Ministry knew about Reis’ exit from TAP and the amount she was going to receive.
TAP, in which the Portuguese state has a 72.5% controlling stake, was saved by a 3.2-billion-euro rescue plan approved by Brussels. It has reduced its fleet, eliminated thousands of jobs and cut wages in an attempt to return to profit in the next few years.
Its cabin crew staged a two-day strike earlier this month to demand higher salaries and better working conditions.
Given that TAP fell under Nuno Santos’ remit and due to the “public perception” of the case, his ministry said in a statement that he assumed “political responsibility and presented his resignation to the prime minister”.
The infrastructure secretary of state, Hugo Mendes, has also quit, the statement said.
Costa’s office said the resignation had been accepted, with the prime minister thanking Nuno Santos for his years in government, where he has been since 2015 when the Socialists ascended to power.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Leslie Adler)
