In the letter sent to the minister Maria do Rosário Ramalho, and to which Lusa had access, the president of the Social Security Institute states that she made the decision to resign after the "public position taken by the Government regarding the adjustments to the withholding tax at source of the pensions paid by the ISS in the months of April and May".

"Showing surprise and 'astonishment' in relation to this decision and in this regard pointing out the omission of this subject in the meeting of April 22, between the ISS board of directors, Your Excellency and the Secretary of State for Social Security, objectively configure a manifestation of lack of confidence by the government in the president of the ISS board of directors", reads the letter.

This matter led the president of the ISS to be called, on May 9 at the request of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), to the parliamentary committee on Budget, Finance and Public Administration, where she explained that the adjustments [of the withholding tax on pensions] were made in April and May for a technical reason, "when it was possible to complete the IT developments", dismissing any political interpretation.

In the resignation letter, Ana Vasques alleges that she informed the Secretary of State for Social Security, Jorge Campino, on April 24, "by e-mail", and later in a meeting on April 29, in addition to the clarifications in the parliamentary committee on May 9.

However, on April 29 and through a statement, the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security expressed itself "astonished" with the adjustment of the withholding tax at source on pensions in April and May and stated that this results "exclusively from political orientation".

"Despite everything having been clarified, and despite the matter having been completely dispelled as to the technical and legal correctness and as to the good faith with which I acted before the supervisory authority in this process (...) I understand that there is no other possible interpretation than the assumption on the part of Your Excellency of a lack of loyalty on my part", writes the president of the ISS.

Ana Vasques justifies her decision with the "positions publicly taken by the Government and the absence of any type of approach by the Ministry after these same clarifications".

For the person in charge, "these imputations are serious" and represent a "breach of trust that cannot be remedied", reasons why she says she is "available to cease her duties".

She adds that, although the legislation requires a 60-day notice period, if the supervisory authority understands, she is "available to cease her duties before this deadline".

Ana Vasques guarantees that she intends to "preserve the proper functioning of the ISS in the face of any type of management instability and also contribute to the existence of better internal conditions".

On the other hand, she explains that she believes that this is the "right time" to make the decision to resign, which aims to preserve her "dignity, good name and professional reputation", "taking into account that matters of greater concern are duly on track".

The president of the ISS also emphasises that she has always guided the exercise of her duties "by a conduct of technical rigour and professional ethics".

Questioned by Lusa, the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security only confirmed that it had received the resignation request.

This issue with pensions arose after the Jornal de Negócios reported the case of pensioners who were faced with a reduction in the net value of the pension paid in May, without the receipt thereof providing an explanation for this fact -- since the gross value of the pension remained the same, as did the withholding tax rate, but not the amount of the discount.

Subsequently, the Social Security Institute clarified that adjustments were made to the withholding tax on the pensions of April and May of 328 thousand pensioners, to correct the withholding made in January based on a "provisional" table.

[News updated at 2:22 pm]

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