Portugal’s former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho advised his old finance minister to take the job at Arrow Global.
The former Minister of Finance, Maria Luís Albuquerque, asked Pedro Passos Coelho what he thought about the job of non-exec director at the UK-based debt collector compared to other offers she claims to have received after she left office.
Passos Coelho brought up the subject at a meeting of the Social Democrat Party and said that if he were in her place, he would go for the Arrow job - at €5,000 a month - thus confirming that neither minister has any grasp of grass roots opinion.
The PSD leader said that Maria Luís has done nothing wrong in accepting the job even though she is a serving member of parliament on around €3,000 a month.
As for the link between the €300 million of Banif bad debts that Arrow is handling and Albuquerque's role as finance minister, Passos Coelho said that opposition parties which have asked for clarification are just stirring up trouble for political point scoring.
The Communists and Left Bloc have asked the ethics subcommittee to analyse parliamentary rules covering Albuquerque’s appointment in order to assess whether there is any incompatibility.
Comments
There could be a rule that no deputy should take any other paid employment; or alternatively, that if they do, they give up their seat.