Salary increases, investments in the SNS, more housing negotiations, reform of the IRS, more funding for higher education, in a document with ‘juggling tricks’ on taxes – these are the positions of PCP, BE, PAN, Liberal Initiative, Livre and Chega on the 2024 State Budget (OE), broadcast after hearings with the President of the Republic, in Belém. On Wednesday it is the turn of the PSD and PS to be received by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
This Monday, all parties spoke with the president They asked, without exception, that the government be more ambitious in its accounts for next year.
The first party to be heard in Belém was Livre. And in the statement after the meeting, Rui Tavares, sole deputy and party spokesman, admitted he would have voted against if the government did not change the proposal. [a votação final global está marcada para dia 29 de novembro]During the discussion in the specialty, changes were demanded in areas such as housing, railways or higher education, “three essential elements” for Livre. In general, the party abstained (as did the PAN). At the end of the meeting, the deputy also mentioned that two draft resolutions on Israel and Palestine had been discussed – which were presented to Parliament on October 18.
At noon, the PAN (in a delegation led by leader Inês Sousa Real) was consulted by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. At the end of the meeting, the PAN spokeswoman asked the government not to include itself “in its absolute majority” and challenged the executive to negotiate with the opposition on issues such as housing and taxes. According to Sousa Real, it is necessary to change the OE to face the “housing crisis”. This implies that “the banks must also help the Portuguese”.
In turn, the Left Bloc accused the government of “delaying” negotiations with doctors. This was, in fact, the tone of the meeting with the president, in which the bloc expressed concern about the situation of the National Health Service (SNS). Mariana Mortágua, coordinator and deputy of the bloc, said at the end of the meeting “At this point, the government’s inability to reach an agreement with doctors effectively translates into an invitation for doctors to leave the NHS.”
The PCP was received first in the afternoon. Accompanied by Paula Santos (parliamentary leader), João Oliveira (member of the Political Committee of the Central Committee) and Margarida Botelho (from the Secretariat of the Central Committee), Paulo Raimundo admitted that if the government reduces VAT on electricity and increases If it generates ‘significant’ salaries, the party can change its voting direction. At the end of the meeting, the Communist General Secretary stated that, in the specialty, the PCP will push for measures that are “fair and more necessary every day, to meet the needs of the people and those who work and have worked all their lives,” such as “greater fiscal justice” or the reduction of VAT on “electricity, gas and telecommunications”.
On the right, the Liberal Initiative again pushed for economic growth. To that end, said Liberal Leader Rui Rocha, IL will present “an extremely ambitious proposal to cut the IRS.” “Would say [que é] the most ambitious that can be presented by any party in this budget – and which has the particularity of creating a lower, simpler and fairer IRS for all Portuguese” he stated. Moreover, Rui Rocha also challenged the Prime Minister to clarify whether he had any form of intervention in the case of the twins who were allegedly receiving treatment at Santa Maria Hospital. “It is an obligation” to clarify the matter, he said.
Chega was the last party to be heard. At the end of the meeting, André Ventura announced that the party will continue to oppose the document. If there is dialogue, can the direction of voice change? “No, because these are not specific negotiation issues, but structural issuessaid Ventura, who also criticized the “juggling trick” he accuses the government of on taxes.
Source: DN
