The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) has strongly condemned the government's decision to hand over a 49.9% stake in national airline TAP Air Portugal to German aviation giant Lufthansa, describing the move as a serious blow to Portugal's economy, national sovereignty and workers' rights.
In a statement issued on October 14, the PCP denounced the proposed €1.201 billion sale as an attack on national interests that can and must still be stopped. The Party criticized the secrecy surrounding the agreement, arguing that the public has been denied access to essential information about the company's valuation and the terms negotiated with Lufthansa.
In a statement issued on October 14, the PCP denounced the proposed €1.201 billion sale as an attack on national interests that can and must still be stopped. The Party criticized the secrecy surrounding the agreement, arguing that the public has been denied access to essential information about the company's valuation and the terms negotiated with Lufthansa.
According to the communists, the privatization also serves the European Union's policy of concentrating the aviation sector in the hands of a handful of powerful multinational corporations.
The PCP stressed that TAP remains a profitable and strategically important enterprise, contributing substantial tax and social security revenues, supporting more than a thousand Portuguese businesses and maintaining vital air connections with Madeira, the Azores, Africa and South America.
Rejecting government assurances that Portugal will retain control through its majority shareholding, the Party warned that effective management would pass to Lufthansa through a shareholders' agreement, while the government's ultimate objective remains the complete privatization of the airline.
The PCP also criticized the convergence of the PSD, CDS, Socialist Party (PS), Chega and Liberal Initiative (IL) around privatization, accusing them of facilitating the transfer of strategic national assets to foreign capital.
“What Lufthansa and Germany gain from this privatization, the Portuguese people and the country lose,” the PCP declared.
Calling on workers and all those defending Portugal's national interests to mobilize against the sale, the communists pledged to pursue every available initiative, including parliamentary action, to halt and ultimately reverse the decision.
The PCP stressed that TAP remains a profitable and strategically important enterprise, contributing substantial tax and social security revenues, supporting more than a thousand Portuguese businesses and maintaining vital air connections with Madeira, the Azores, Africa and South America.
Rejecting government assurances that Portugal will retain control through its majority shareholding, the Party warned that effective management would pass to Lufthansa through a shareholders' agreement, while the government's ultimate objective remains the complete privatization of the airline.
The PCP also criticized the convergence of the PSD, CDS, Socialist Party (PS), Chega and Liberal Initiative (IL) around privatization, accusing them of facilitating the transfer of strategic national assets to foreign capital.
“What Lufthansa and Germany gain from this privatization, the Portuguese people and the country lose,” the PCP declared.
Calling on workers and all those defending Portugal's national interests to mobilize against the sale, the communists pledged to pursue every available initiative, including parliamentary action, to halt and ultimately reverse the decision.