The PCP is presenting this Monday to the Assembly of the Republic a series of proposals to amend the state budget for 2023, including asking the government to end tolls in the former SCUT — something also championed by other policy forces.
In the diploma – to which the DN had access – the communists ask that it is possible to circulate in all sections that were free and paid from 2011 without paying again. This is what Parliament Speaker Paula Santos defends at the DN, “It’s a question of honesty. Concerns are justified and necessary”the proposals presented correspond to “the population at a time when the cost of living is high and it is necessary to stop these increases as much as possible”, the deputy believes.
In addition, in the series of proposals submitted to Parliament this afternoon, the PCP proposes two further measures: On the one hand, it wants to abolish the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and on the other hand, the party demands maximum value when renewing bridges and highways in concession.
“For example, the 25 de Abril Bridge and the Vasco da Gama Bridge are used by thousands of people every day and it is a huge burden today, even more so if they were to increase according to plan,” defends Paula Santos. In the diploma awarded, the communists defend that such increases are not “particularly scandalous when it is found that over the past eight years these PPPs [de concessões das autoestradas] 9.1 billion euros absorbed from the national budget”. And this is exactly the argument that Paula Santos uses to defend the end of these partnerships: “All of these funds could be channeled into other things, such as upgrading infrastructure and other areas where more investment is needed.”
On the part of the government, Paula Santos expects “a position” that she will have to take “mandatory”, just like the PS. “We are not giving up. Our proposals are feasible. The PS has to take a stand: if it wants to side with the big groups and profit or if it wants to side with the people.” Without specifying exactly how many proposals the PCP will put forward, the parliament speaker leaves a guarantee: “We will step in and discuss our proposals, which are several, in different areas”, ranging from pensions to health, for example. .
Source: DN
