The PSD’s parliamentary days begin today in the Senate Hall of the People’s Assembly of the Republic under the motto An Emergency Social Program for the Middle Class, with a panel of guests proposing a “world vision” very different from the social democratic one, revealed to DN the deputy Hugo Carneiro. With the 2024 state budget (OE2024) in the spotlight, the parliamentarian accuses the government’s proposal for public accounts of being “just an appearance”.
“We bring a very broad range of perspectives, even from other political domains, and that is why we want to enrich the debate, because we believe that the party cannot close itself in.”explained Hugo Carneiro.
The motto of the debate is not new. It was used by the party to present the proposals for OE2024, a day before the government presented the diploma to the Assembly of the Republic. There will be two days to debate OE2024 or to point the finger at the government and compare the PSD’s proposed measures for the state accounts with those of the PS. And the speakers, in addition to the ‘world view’ mentioned by Hugo Carneiro, bring perspectives from both parties.
This afternoon the opening session will be led by the leader of the Social Democratic Bank, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, but the first speaker will be the former Minister of Labor, Industry and Energy Luís Mira Amaral, who will speak on “economic perspectives”, still in the PSD area. Tomorrow it will be party leader Luís Montenegro who will conclude the proceedings.
As moderator of the debate on ‘tax changes’, Hugo Carneiro will have to lead the conversation between the tax specialist at consultancy PwC Rosa Areias and the former Secretary of State for Tax Affairs of the socialist government of António Guterres, Rogério Fernandes Ferreira. Here diversity comes to the fore and one of the PSD flags is present as a criticism of the government. “Contract with the social sector, but also with the private sector”confirms Hugo Carneiro, giving the National Health Service (SNS) as an example.
Between public and private
When asked whether private sector speakers such as Luís Reis, doctor and CEO of Sonae Financial Services, reveal the PSD’s proposed economic orientation for the country, Hugo Carneiro criticizes the “gap” that “between the state and the social sector has been dug’. sector and the private sector”.
“That’s what the government did during the pandemic. She demonized everything that was a private hospital and then fled to private hospitals because she could not respond. Therefore, we have a situation where more than 1.6 million people do not have access to a general practitioner, we have dramatic delays in various areas of expertise in consultations and also in carrying out medical examinations where average response times are exceeded,” he explains.
And it is in the panel dedicated to Health, which we will hear tomorrow, that the Social Democrats show what they come for. “We have to listen to everyone. The parliamentary days are a debate that takes place over two days, with several panels, but the PSD meets over time with many entities, from the public sector and the private sector, to listen to the difficulties. needs and solutions,” the deputy emphasized.
Medina’s “Article”
Faced with the various criticisms leveled at the PSD regarding the party’s lack of response to the government’s OE2024 proposal, which may have gone further than the Social Democrats on the IRS, Hugo Carneiro refutes this idea. “We are not speechless or stuck with the budget because it is a weak budget.”he believes, arguing that the socialists presented a “merely bogus” proposal.
“It reduces the IRS measures, both brackets and other measures of the young IRS, by approximately 1,700 million euros, but increases indirect taxes by 1,600 million euros”explains Hugo Carneiro, for whom the OE2024, presented by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, only brings “changes in rates and tax configurations”.
“For example,” points out the deputy, the Portuguese will pay more “in the ISP [imposto sobre combustíveis]at IABA [imposto sobre bebidas alcoólicas]stamp duty, tobacco tax”, also recalling that “the zero VAT measure will disappear”. In short, says Hugo Carneiro, “Minister Fernando Medina did a trick, apparently to reduce the IRS, but he was going to take this money from the rest of the revenue”.
‘Disagreeing’ is normal
With a parliamentary group with changes in leadership, with the departure of Ricardo Baptista Leite, Luís Gomes and Joaquim Pinto Moreira – the latter, after the accusation of corruption in the context of the Vórtex process, linked to urban projects in the Câmara de Espinho – , and With the addition of Miguel Santos, Jorge Paulo Oliveira and António Prôa, Hugo Carneiro guarantees that there is nothing but dedication to work in the PSD. As for everything else, he says he just follows the news. And when contradictory words come from the Social Democratic corner, the delegate prefers to focus on the idea that “unanimism is not good under any circumstances”.
However, he points out, “In the end, everyone is united in voting for the same side and defending the same thing. That’s how I defended it during the time of Dr. Rui Rio and I think it makes so much sense. Disagreements and disagreements, or doubts are sometimes decided internally and there was room for that”he decides.
Source: DN
