The former Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the former provider of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), Edmundo Martinho, and other former officials of the institution will be heard this Wednesday in Parliament.
To the auditions were required by the Liberal Initiative and Chega to discuss the financial situation of the institution and the business of internationalizing social games, following the dismissal of the SCML provider, Ana Jorge.
During the morning, the Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Committee will hear Ana Jorge’s predecessor, Edmundo Martinho, and former SCML deputy ombudsman Ana Vitória Azevedo, who resigned in March.
After the plenary session, the Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Committee meets again to hear the former administrator of Santa Casa Global, Ricardo Gonçalves, and the former Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias, currently deputy in the Assembly of the Republic and chairman of the commission.
On Thursday, the former administrator of Santa Casa Global, Francisco Pessoa e Costa, will also be heard.
Requests for an urgent hearing emerged after the dismissal of the provider from SCML Ana Jorge and all members of the panel on April 30, so that the financial situation of the institution and the impact of investments for the internationalization of social games can be clarified.
The hearings of the current Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Ramalho, her predecessor Ana Mendes Godinho, and the exonerated provider of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Ana Jorge, were also approved.
The Government dismissed the ombudsman and the members of the board, with immediate effect, and justified the decision with “severely negligent actions” that affected the management of the institution.
Subsequently, in a letter sent to all workers, Ana Jorge accused the Government of having dismissed her in a “rude, arrogant and slanderous manner” and that she was taken by surprise.
Ana Jorge took office on May 2, 2023, chosen by the previous socialist government of António Costa, and inherited an institution with serious financial difficulties, after years of pandemic and a process of internationalization of social games, carried out by the administration of provider Edmundo Martinho, which may have caused losses of around 50 million euros.
