The chairman of the PSD spoke out on Monday against any brake on income growth next year, defended state aid for the most disadvantaged groups, and called for a health pact between the public, private and social sectors.
In an interview with TVI/CNN, Luís Montenegro did not absolutely commit to voting against the proposed 2024 state budget. He said he wanted to wait for the document to be presented on Tuesday, although he admitted he would not expect a “major budget”. change” for a government that has been in power for eight years.
And if the government’s proposal entails a more pronounced reduction in the IRS than the initially planned 500 million euros, the chairman of the PSD says he is “satisfied” with an approach to the Social Democrats’ proposal for a reduction of 1,200 million euros, but considered, which will come “a year too late”.
Montenegro stressed that the party continues to defend a policy of correct accounting – “the PSD is where it has always been” – but is determined to return to the people the increase in tax revenues generated by inflation, and refuses to do so the Social Democrats are reckless with your proposals.
“I do not defend either more budget deficits or more debt,” he assured.
Regarding the problems in the field of housing – and faced with the “frustration” in this sector that the Prime Minister admitted in the same interview a week ago, Montenegro regretted that António Costa had not taken the opportunity to ” apologize’ to the Portuguese, after apologizing to the Portuguese. set the goal that by the 50th anniversary of April 25 (2024), all Portuguese would have decent housing.
When asked whether he would slow down income growth if he were Prime Minister – instead of applying the law that provides for an increase in line with inflation – the PSD leader replied negatively.
“If I were prime minister, I understand that the market should work and that the state should help families in greater need and provide additional support,” he said, considering that the brake may seem like good news for people, but that will will happen later. a perverse effect” where landlords terminate contracts or take their homes off the market.
Regarding the problems in the health sector, which have affected several hospitals due to the refusal of more than 2,000 doctors to work more overtime than legally allowed, Montenegro considered that a structural solution is necessary, more than “specific agreements “.
“In Portugal, a health pact is needed that involves not only political parties, but also public, private and social actors that manage equipment, response capacity and human resources,” he said, considering that it “is not only a failure, but also hypocrisy. This does not presuppose that the SNS today has to use contractors or contract services with private companies.
The PSD leader defended that “a fisherman from Afurada should have the same opportunity to go to a private hospital as a lawyer,” admitted the return of public-private partnerships when they had better results and expected that “if no end is put to to place in ideological dizziness” there will be “complete chaos in the field of health”.
“The minister, who has been in office for just over a year, no longer appears to have the capacity to respond. It seems like his head is somewhere else, they say he wants to be president of the Chamber of Porto, and maybe he is. he emphasized. He claimed to understand the doctors’ struggle, although he said 150 hours of overtime “is not enough” and a level a doctor can easily reach in four or five months.
Source: DN
