When asked whether he was prepared to give the green light to the TGV tender, the former Minister of Infrastructure replied that he would do so “without any hesitation” and that “the sooner the better”.
“This is one of the most structuring projects for the country. Together with me, we started this process, and we are already too many years late,” he opined, arguing that “the government has all the capabilities and all the legitimacy to move forward with a project that was started some time ago and must be put into practice quickly.”
The candidate for the position of Secretary General of the PS spoke to journalists ahead of a meeting with young people in Lisbon.
In an intervention for young socialists, Pedro Nuno Santos chose employment, housing, mobility and the cost of living as his priorities.
On employment and wages, the former minister considered that this is “the biggest struggle” and concerns the growth and modernization of the economy, refusing that the reduction of the IRC is the solution to economic problems, as proposed by the PSD.
Regarding housing, Pedro Nuno Santos defended the need to increase public supply and believed that these housing units should be targeted not only at the most deprived population, but also at the middle class.
The former Minister of Infrastructure believed that it is necessary to go beyond the government’s target of doubling the number of beds in public housing, and proposed a needs analysis that would allow responding to the ‘actual needs” of displaced students.
The former governor also defended the need to “expand the level and freedom of higher education,” including tuition fees, and proposed the expansion of free public transportation for all young people.
Before the intervention of Pedro Nuno Santos, the general secretary of the Socialist Youth (JS), who opened this presentation of the candidacy, expressed his support, saying that the candidate has the support of the ten JS deputies.
Miguel Costa Matos expressed his “proud” of the candidate, saying he was “condemned, mobilizer and unifier of the party.”
The leader of the Young Socialists also believed that Pedro Nuno Santos is “a leader who does” and “who unites”.
‘Today we know that, from left to right in our party, all socialists can unite throughout Portugal [o slogan da candidatura] and the great leader that is Pedro Nuno Santos,” he defended.
The Prime Minister confirmed on Friday his intention to launch the first tender for the construction of the high-speed line between Lisbon and Porto in January, if there is an agreement from the PSD leader.
“In January everything will be ready to launch the competition, but given the current political situation the competition will only be launched if the future leader of the PS and the current leader of the PSD give the green light,” António said. Costa, in Dubai, where he participated in the 28th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28).
The Lisbon-Porto high-speed project, with an estimated cost of around 4.5 billion euros, provides a connection between the two cities in one hour and 15 minutes, with possible stops in Leiria, Coimbra, Aveiro and Gaia.
At the same time, depending on coordination with Spain, the Porto-Vigo connection is also being developed with a new connection to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport and the Braga-Valença section (Viana do Castelo district).
Source: DN
