Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, parliamentary leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), said on Tuesday that the increase in pensions under measures to support families announced by the government is “just an illusion” and that “only what is fulfilled that is the law.”
In a press conference, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento explained that: “As for retirees, what the government did was just an illusion. It gives retirees the idea that you will give them extraordinary support in October, when what you give is only part of what you are legally required to give in January. So if we look between October of this year and the end of next year, retirees with this government program will receive exactly what they received without this program, with no extra euros.”
“I was talking about an illusion regarding pensioners, because what the government gives is exclusively and strictly, in the words of the Labor Minister, what follows from the law on pension increases,” said the Social Democrat. soon, “the real support for retirees is zero, because you only obey the law”he added.
“The role of the PSD was highly relevant and proved to be an important part of the government’s action and in anticipating what the measures were, as the government should have taken them much earlier,” he concluded.
PCP urges 18 “structural measures” to fight inflation
The PCP presented, in the form of a motion for a resolution, 18 “structural measures” that aim to fight inflation by urging wages and pensions to be increased and setting or fixing maximum prices for essential goods.
“This is a series of measures that we propose to deal with the current situation that we are experiencing in our country, to address the problems, measures that are structural and which, when interrelated, not only make it possible to valuing income by raising wages and pensions, intervening in prices, strengthening public services and taxing economic groups that allow for a fairer distribution of wealth,” said Paula Santos.
The PCP’s parliamentary leader spoke at a press conference at the Assembly of the Republic to present a draft resolution – a recommendation to the government that does not have the force of law – outlining a set of 18 “emergency” solutions to be implemented. implemented this year and “come into effect this month, a day after the government announced its package of measures to combat inflation.
For the most part, the PCP is pushing for several measures it has championed in recent months, some of which have already been presented in the form of a bill in this legislature and which are ultimately ‘sunken’ and cannot be re-tabled in this form until the end of the session, such as the interim increase in the national minimum wage to 800 euros, with a view to an increase to 850 euros in January 2023.
This also applies to the general increase in wages and pensions “by an amount corresponding to the inflation accumulated up to August (6.9%)”, the increase in social benefits or the “modification of the IRS scales, the withholding tables in the source and other tax mechanisms”.
Setting or fixing maximum prices for essential goods is another proposal from the Communists, which in the case of energy suggests: “finalize regulated electricity rates and create a level playing field for gas” or universally apply the minimum rate of 6% VAT on electricity and gas.
With regard to fuel, the PCP proposes setting maximum prices for “simple fuels, natural gas and LPG in bottles and pipes”, and the introduction of a “special scheme to support the price of colored and marked diesel and in agriculture and fisheries” as well as the abolition of double taxation on fuel.
The communists want to “reduce the prices of foodstuffs in mass distribution, covering products from the essential food basket” and also “guarantee the payment of fair prices to the producers, by ensuring that these price reduction measures are formulated with the necessary support for national production”.
In the area of housing, the PCP defends “setting a maximum ceiling for updating rents corresponding to the value verified in 2022 – 0.43%”, or “setting a maximum ‘spread’ to be applied by Caixa Geral de Depósitos as an instrument to contain the increase in the cost of families with home loans”.
The PCP also prioritizes health and education, urging in the first area a regime of exclusive dedication and in the second “the extraordinary commitment of teachers, under conditions which, as a priority and effective September 1, ensure the commitment of those with 10 or more years of service, regardless of recruitment group”.
The extraordinary taxation of the profits of economic groups is still one of the measures included in this plan, which has been defended several times by the communists.
BE defends that almost half of the government package is a financial ploy
The Left Bloc estimated that nearly half of the social support package presented by the government is limited to promoting pensions to which retirees were already legally entitled, thus characterizing itself as “a financial ploy”.
This criticism was voiced by Left Bloc leader Mariana Mortágua, in parliament, in response to the government’s press conference this morning on the social measures taken to combat the effects of inflation.
“Today’s press conference [do Governo] it only confirms that the package of measures presented [na segunda-feira] by the prime minister comes too late, it’s short and it’s really full of tricks,” the deputy of the blockade insisted.
According to Tuesday’s press conference, according to Mariana Mortágua, there is “only one novelty” regarding the data presented by Finance Minister Fernando Medina.
“We have learned that almost half of the package to fight inflation consists solely of anticipating pensions that retirees would already be entitled to in 2023. Almost half of the package presented is a financial ploy that anticipates pensions that retirees will follow. years would already be entitled to. years,” emphasizes Mariana Mortágua.
From the perspective of the Left Bloc deputy, after the most recent government decisions, “It remains without robust answers and with only a series of illusionistic tricks that make little difference in people’s lives”.
“People don’t continue to see their pension and salary at the end of the month because of the rise in the cost of living. Those who expected a drop in gasoline or the price of diesel did not see these measures. Salaries and pensions what he found was a big disappointment,” he added.
with Lusa
News updated at 13:52
Source: DN
