These views were conveyed by Eurico Brilhante Dias at dinner on the second day of the PS parliamentary days in Funchal, during a speech in which he took stock of the first legislative session in the Assembly of the Republic.
In a speech to his deputies, Eurico Brilhante Dias tried to reject the idea that he runs a bank without autonomy from António Costa’s executive. He said journalists “can’t imagine how difficult negotiating with the government is sometimes” and characterized the PS as a “radical democratic” party.
“For that reason, a majority of the PS never equals a majority of the right. We were a decisive force in maintaining political stability in Portugal,” he claimed – here, in reference to the rejection of the censure motions of Chega and Iniciativa Liberal and before referring to the socialist bank’s political relations with the others in parliament, both left and right.
At that time, the chairman of the parliamentary group of the PS rejected the opposition’s theory “about the existence of a steamroller” in the Assembly of the Republic, as a result of an absolute socialist majority.
“This is easily dismantled by the numbers of this long first legislature. It is a mistake, it is not happening and it has nothing to do with our work,” he stated.
“We were the majority of the dialogue, although we were determined to comply with the election program of the PS,” he countered, referring below to a series of data that, in his opinion, allow us to understand what happened during this first legislative session in the Assembly of the Republic.
According to the leader of the Socialist Bank, the PS faction has already approved 20 bills in general in this legislative session and tabled more than a hundred amendments to the government’s proposals for state budgets for 2022 and 2023.
Still regarding the budgets, he reiterated that his bank passed 144 opposition amendments – figures he says contrast with Pedro Passos Coelho’s PSD/CDS director, between 2011 and 2015, who passed just over 40 approved.
Eurico Brilhante Dias also pointed out that the two budgets not only had the votes of the absolute socialist majority, but also had abstentions from the PAN, Livre and even, for once, in 2022, PSD / Madeira deputies.
With regard to other areas of political action, he highlighted proposals to amend the Decent Work Agenda, the Mais Habitação program and the “follow-up” of anti-inflation measures.
In the case of the Agenda for Decent Work, he specifically referred to the introduction of the presumption of an employment contract in the context of the digital platform, the increase in the number of absences justified by the death of a spouse, the possibility of SNS 24 and extension of the right to telework to parents of children with a chronic disability, regardless of their age.
In the case of the housing package, the socialist caucus’ action focused on amending the IRS code to reward lower income earners, limiting tax breaks for real estate investment trusts, making income support untouchable, extraordinary contributions on local housing, and expanding rental benefits to student housing.
At a dinner attended by several PS/Madeira leaders, the president of the PS parliamentary group also tried to highlight progress in territorial cohesion, arguing that his deputies contributed or were directly involved were in amending the statutes of locally elected representatives. in the bill for universities of applied sciences, and in strengthening the transfer of powers in the context of the decentralization process.
Source: DN
