The office of the secretary-general of the National Assembly has stated that "there is no statement of exclusivity between November 1995 and 1999" in the name of Pedro Passos Coelho.
Pedro Passos Coelho therefore was not receiving an enhanced salary between November 1995 and 1999 - a position inconveniently contradicted by the facts.
If true, this means that any money Passos Coelho earned from other sources during the period in question was legally earned and will of course appear on his tax returns for the relevant years.
If teh current PM did diddle the taxman on his slice of the estimated €150,000 this rather conveniently is beyond the legal time limit for investigation and prosecution for tax evasion.
Following a request made today by news agency Lusa, a clarification came straight back from the office of the secretary-general of the Assembly of the Republic, "there is no statement of exclusivity between November 1995 and 1999" in the name of Pedro Passos Coelho.
"And in this same period, he was also not paid the 10% extra as per an exclusivity arrangement. There was a statement of exclusivity for 1992," added the office.
The Attorney General of the Republic, Joana Marques Vidal, has received a complaint about alleged payments from Tecnoforma to Pedro Passos Coelho when he was serving in parliament under an exclusivity contract meaning he was not permitted to earn other income, in return for an enhanced salary. This was between 1995 and 1999 and the total suggested was €150,000.
Over the weekend, Passos Coelho said that parliament should decide on the conditions under which he served as an MP for about 15 years, when he was asked about alleged payments from Tecnoforma.
"We are talking about a period in which I played various functions and I think it is important that parliamentary office should clarify the conditions under which this took place," said Pedro Passos Coelho, when asked about whether or not her received payments fom Tecnoforma group while he served as deputy party leader under an exclusivity agreement between 1995 and 1999.
This seemed a curious response as the answer should be 'yes' or 'no' but Passos Coelho did say that it was difficult for him to remember all the responsibilities he held some years ago.
However, the declaration from the Parliamentary office contradict the decision in May 2000 when Passos Coelho was assigned, at his own request, a transitional allowance of €60,000 euros, double the amount he should have been entitled if indeed he was under an exclusivity agreement at the times in question.
Passos Coelho also has not answered the simple questions as to whether he declared any income form Tecnoforma.
According to research from Público, Passos Coelho filled in the application form assuring the parliamentary services "that he served as a deputy during the VI and VII Legislatures, on an exclusive basis," rather at odds with the statement arranged by the parliamentary office.
The current prime minister assured the office that his earnings outside parliament between 1991 and 1999, came "solely from collaboration with various media, writing and radio."
He even requested an opinion from the Ethics Commission to check this was OK under parliamentary rules, i.e. that the total does not reach €25,000, money that is not allowable if he was working on an exclusivity basis at an enhanced salary.
Passos Coelho will have earned an additional €30,000 by opting for the exclusivity contract, this was entirely his choice.
The alternative he had was to stick to the rules of the exclusivity option or the rules of option B that allowed other income to be earned which for normal mortals would involve declaring and paying tax on it.
The fact that Passos Coelho is safely beyond the time limit for a tax investigation or prosecution will enhance his new reputation as a tax dodger if the Tecnoforma payments were indeed made and income not declared if and when the current PM was drawing the enhanced salary.
Have documents mysteriously been mislaid and did the current PM declare payments from Tecnoforma? The national media is on the case.
