PS government’s case for “just cause” dealt significant blow
Former PS Socialist prime minister António Costa’s political future received another major jolt last night. Just as he is vying for one of the top jobs in Brussels, CNN Portugal released conversations allegedly recorded by public prosecutors (as part of the Operation Influencer case) that show Mr Costa effectively ordered the dismissal of former TAP CEO Christine Ourmières-Widener, because of public outrage caused by a ‘golden handshake’ she negotiated, which was authorised by the current PS Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos via Whatsapp.
Just that one sentence indicates the scale of collateral effects: CNN’s report will have supremely boosted Ms Ourmiéres-Widener’s case against the Portuguese State for unfair dismissal (for which she is suing for almost €6 million in damages) – and done no service at all to Pedro Nuno Santos who has sought to distance himself from this shameful episode as he sets out to try and persuade the country that it is he and his party that stand for everything people should have voted for last March.
As CNN’s report explains, Costa considered the dismissal of Ourmières Widener an indispensable political measure to preserve the image of the government.
The former PM’s actual words, in a telephone conversation to Infrastructures Minister of the time, João Galamba, appear to have been: “People need to feel that the government won’t tolerate this kind of s**t… If this becomes a hell, it’s her or us”. Which appears to lob the ‘official reason’ given for Ms Ourmières-Widener’s dismissal into something of a parallel universe.
But for Mr Costa, it is absolutely the worst kind of political dynamite at the worst possible time. European leaders are considering names for the presidency of the European Council – and as much as sources here keep saying he is perfect for the post, there was no agreement at Monday night’s dinner in Brussels, where he was widely tipped to be nominated. That eventuality has been ‘postponed’ until a new dinner meeting next week. Last night’s bombshell certainly won’t have helped it along.
For what it is worth, the public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the leaked information – but this doesn’t change anything: the ‘truth’ appears to have pivoted.
As reports admit: “These declarations raise questions on the official justification of the government” for Ms Ourmières-Widener’s hotly disputed dismissal – and they won’t do anything for the public’s trust in general in ‘government justifications’.
CNN adds that it “knows the defence (lawyer) of the ex-CEO means to use this material in the case that she has lodged against the State, in which she is requesting an indemnity of almost €6 million”.
Meantime, Lusa reports that the signatories of the manifesto calling for a reform of the justice system and criticising the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, particularly in Operation Influencer are calling for “explanations from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and its hierarchy, particularly the Attorney General of the Republic,” Lucília Gago, on how these leaks – in a case supposedly under the Rule of Secrecy of Justice – could have possibly come about.
