“What will happen tomorrow? [segunda-feira] it is the government that is doing what we have been demanding since May. Contrary to what the government has said, there is not a three-day difference between what the PSD has presented and what the government will announce, there is a three-month difference.”
This is the main, but not the only, argument Luís Montenegro uses to say that the government’s package of measures “comes too late, it comes very late and it was not because of a lack of warning. It was the ability that the government had consciously applied this measure only in the last three months of the year”.
The Social Democratic leader guarantees that what will happen is another “example of the prime minister’s famous political prowess, the” show off from power pointt”.
Recalling that he has been defending a social emergency program since May, Montenegro admits that António Costa’s measures will not be exactly the same as those proposed by the PSD and presented to Parliament on Friday, in the form of a draft resolution.
“They’re coming dressed tomorrow, they’re not coming” ipsis verbs as we have presented them, I know that the government follows the PSD, but it is not so much,” he said, laughing in the audience at the conclusion of the 18th edition of the Universidade de Verão.
“Different clothes,” but “the basics will be the same,” he said.
The PSD leader does not understand why the government is still not announcing support to companies today, because “there are preconditions for the PS to do what it agreed with us in 2014 and lower the IRC”.
“Dr. António Costa, don’t wait another 15 days and do it tomorrow,” he asked.
Luís Montenegro predicts that the anticipation of the increase in pensions will be announced, but regrets that the government will only do in September what the Social Democrats proposed in May, such as lowering the VAT on energy, which the government said was not possible . European license.
“I’m making a call/wish here that tomorrow, at least now, Dr. António Costa will lower the VAT on energy to 6%. Do it temporarily, but do it now, because now people need it.” defended.
And as it is better late than never, Montenegro wished the government that “the press conference is going well, the measures to be announced are effective” and that they can be extended if necessary.
“It is the government that should run the country, we see that the frustration in society is great, because the government is not doing its job, but we will fulfill ours,” he assured. In other words, since there are no elections tomorrow, the PSD is not required to have a complete plan to run the country from now on.
Montenegro, who believes he is fulfilling his role of opposition – “we pointed out omissions, insensitivity and, despite the government’s passivity, had the audacity to present solutions” – says the PSD is “the voice of those who need that voice in the dialogue with the government, from the Portuguese of all political and geographical origins”.
The PSD president also accused the prime minister of “killing the next health minister” by saying that policies in the sector will remain the same – it is, he said, “the arrogance” of António Costa.
If the health policy remains the same, “there will remain closed. Emergencies, Portuguese without a GP, deferred consultations,” he guaranteed.
“The minister resigned and said she was unable to move forward. What is the Prime Minister’s response? So if he is unable, he will stay for a few more weeks to decide on important things that he thinks can’t afford it. This is a contradiction.” he said.
“It is a case of saying that António Costa is already killing the next health minister or minister because he already wants a policy that has produced bad results,” he said, advising the prime minister to be humble and acknowledge that it health policy failed.
For Luís Montenegro, the problems registered in the health sector “were not from the Minister, although she may have made her contributions. The problem belongs to the Prime Minister, the PS. This PS wanted to close the SNS in the state sphere and lost what was important : citizens, who need healthcare, whether they have it in a public or private hospital or in an IPSS”.
The Social Democratic leader has no doubts that “the greatest friend of private health in Portugal” is António Costa. And the explanation is this: “Don’t come with this bullshit and talk bullshit, we are not friends of the private sector and the social sector, we are friends of the people and we worry about the people. It is unfair”.
Conclusion? Montenegro accuses the left and the PS of doing “much worse to the SNS” than the Social Democrats.
Source: DN
