Pedro Nuno Santos resigned, this Thursday, December 29, as Minister of Infrastructure and Housing. The official, who, in June, was on the verge of leaving the Government due to the location of the new Lisbon airport, could not resist the controversial compensation of 500 thousand euros given to Alexandra Reis, former Secretary of State for the Treasury, when she left TAP.
The resignation of Pedro Nuno Santos was made public at dawn this Thursday, in a statement from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing.
In the document, the official explains that, «in view of the public perception and the collective feeling generated around this case», he decided to assume «political responsibility».
At issue is the compensation of 500 thousand euros that Alexandra Reis received when she left the administration of TAP – a company with public capital – in February.
In June, Alexandra Reis was appointed by the Government to preside over Navegação Aérea de Portugal (NAV)… and, in December, to Secretary of State for the Treasury, under the authority of Fernando Medina (Minister of Finance).
This compensation was only known now, after Correio da Manhã reported the case on Christmas Eve, December 24th.
The departure of Pedro Nuno Santos represents a gap in the Government: appointed as one of the successors of António Costa in the leadership of the PS, he had been with executive functions since 2015.
In the contraption years, he was, as Secretary of State, responsible for political articulation with leftist parties. In 2019, Costa called him Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, taking on important dossiers such as the Railway Plan… and TAP.
And it ended up being due to a controversy with TAP that Pedro Nuno Santos, who had one of the last public acts, while minister, on December 20, in Vila Real de Santo António, left the government.
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