The parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc announced this Wednesday that he will urgently request the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the Budget and Finance Committee on the policy of rate hikes.
This initiative by Pedro Filipe Soares was conveyed in statements to journalists, after the conference of leaders, this Wednesday, at the end of the morning, with the decisive contribution of the PS, did not produce the necessary consensus for Christine Lagarde to speak before the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic.
“Once the possibility of bringing Christine Lagarde to the plenary has been exhausted, we will take advantage of the only alternative allowed to us: to try to get her to the Budget and Finance Committee. A body that has a relentless impact on the lives of families”declared the chairman of the parliamentary group of the Left Bloc.
In the seat of a parliamentary commission, according to Pedro Filipe Soares, “the argument that you cannot have the presence of externals in the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic and that you cannot have someone from a European institution in a committee does not hold, because several European Commissioners have already seated”.
“We hope that this time the apologies do not hinder the action of the Portuguese parliament. We want the hearing to take place urgently and we would even like that urgency to lead to the issue [da alta dos juros] was about to disappear. But unfortunately, as announced in Sintra by Christine Lagarde, the problem is about to get worse”completed.
Asked about the alleged opening by the PS, in a conference of leaders, in the sense that the president of the ECB is heard in committee, Pedro Filipe Soares left a warning about the real position of the socialists.
“Saying they are not against is different from saying they agree. We are faced with the intransigence of parties who understand that Portugal should not assert its sovereign voice in Europe in the face of the difficulties faced by the ECB causes”he accused.
Pedro Filipe Soares also criticized other political forces for the positions they took during the presence of the ECB president in plenary, saying that PSD, Chega and Iniciativa Liberal “repeated the same arguments” as the PS.
“The PCP, although not with similar arguments, maintained the same proposal to oppose our initiative” in that the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, invited Christine Lagarde to be present in the plenary session of the Parliament.
“The framework of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic is unambiguous. The President of the Assembly of the Republic may invite national or international personalities to the plenary session”to maintain.
Livre’s only deputy, Rui Tavares, also spoke to journalists and favored hearing the ECB president in parliament, regardless of the model – in plenary or parliamentary committee – or the timetable.
Rui Tavares justified the importance of this hearing with the fact that the monetary policy of the ECB and the rise in interest rates are the illustration “every day more concrete in the pockets of families, that European policy is no longer foreign policy, but politically domestic” . .
Source: DN
