The leader of Chega today accused the government of making a low provocation to the President of the Republic by asking Minister João Galamba to close the budget debate and called for the resignation of the Minister of Health.
These views were expressed by André Ventura at the Palácio de Belém in Lisbon, at the end of an audience he requested with the Head of State, which lasted about 45 minutes and during which he was accompanied by the party’s vice-presidents, Marta Trindade and Pedro. Frazao.
In addition to the issues related to João Galamba and Manuel Pizarro, the Chega president also said that his party will urgently summon the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, to parliament and demand to know what deal has been made with the sale at Efacec . “while the State still invests 160 million euros”.
In the presence of journalists, André Ventura was of the opinion that on Tuesday, during the final session of the debate on the main part of the 2024 state budget, the government “made an unacceptable provocation to the President of the Republic and the Portuguese Parliament, choosing for the minister’s closing speech [das Infraestruturas] João Galamba”.
“It is an unnecessary, obvious and direct provocation. We are confronted with an absolutely unnecessary, provocative and even low political act on the part of the socialist government, while we all know what happened between the President of the Republic and Minister Galamba. I know João Galamba has already done that. I should not be Minister of the Republic,” he declared.
Later, during the journalists’ question phase, André Ventura indicated that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa did not understand the Socialist Executive’s decision to allow João Galamba to speak during the final session of the budget debate as a provocation against him.
Still on other topics from his audience with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president of Chega considered the resignation of Minister Manuel Pizarro essential in light of “the chaos we are experiencing in the field of health care”, after asking the head of state to ” a red card”. .
At this point, André Ventura said that the President of the Republic shares the idea that the situation is “deteriorating significantly and that the government, at least so far, does not have any solution.”
“No consensus can be reached on issues such as overtime, doctors’ careers, full commitment or duty rotation. This shows the great incompetence of this Minister of Health. We tell the President of the Republic that, honestly, only he can show that red Parliament has already done so,” he noted, in an allusion to the government’s motions of censure submitted by Chega.
According to André Ventura, Chega and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa share another concern: “Lately, in order to escape parliamentary and presidential control, the socialist executive has chosen to create a kind of administrative government, which governs through regulations and not through decrees or proposed measures. laws”.
“And this has been seen in the field of health care. The President of the Republic notes that the Government has opted for governance through regulations and administrative acts and not through acts that can be controlled by Parliament and the President of the republic,” he emphasized.
André Ventura indicated that this “escape from the democratic and institutional control established by the Constitution” is also taking place in other areas, but in the field of “health care it is more visible”.
Also, according to André Ventura, Chega and the President of the Republic share the concern that the Minister of Health, in terms of negotiations with medical unions, “has hastily announced a financial margin to reach an agreement”.
‘These measures [de Manuel Pizarro] appear not to have been accepted by Finance Minister Fernando Medina. The government is now trying to backtrack and claim that no exception can be made for careers in public administration, disowning the Health Minister. The President of the Republic is sensitive to this because he is an intelligent man and understands political signals – and the parties too,” he added.
The Chega leader understands, “in light of the disorganization in healthcare”, that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “must tell the government that the chaos cannot continue”.
Asked whether Chega understands that the head of state must demand from Prime Minister António Costa that Manuel Pizarro be dismissed from the Healthcare portfolio, André Ventura replied: “I am not saying that the only solution is the dismissal of Manuel Pizarro. despite being a minister. “I understand that at this moment the President of the Republic is the only one who can tell the government that if the problems are not resolved, this minister cannot continue,” he added.
Source: DN
