It was a three-step critique: for seven years the government did nothing to solve the housing problems; now that he did, it was in a bad way; and the measures taken undermine market confidence and have a credibility problem that stems from the executive branch itself. That was, broadly speaking, yesterday’s message from the former President of the Republic Cavaco Silva, who is once again the protagonist of a public intervention highly critical of the government. And if on previous occasions he accused António Costa’s executives of immobility, inertia, lack of direction, electoralism or lack of political courage, now he adds – appealing to the promises made and unfulfilled – the “lack of credibility”.
The stage for the criticism of the former President of the Republic was the conference that the 30 years of the Special Rehousing Program (PER), an initiative promoted by the Chamber of Lisbon, which took place at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, in Ajuda. Hosted by Carlos Moedas, the conference also had Luís Montenegro, President of the PSD, in the front row of the audience.
Cavaco Silva, as has been the hallmark of his public interventions, did not skimp on words. “The current crisis is the result of the failure of government housing policies over the past seven yearswith very high social costs for thousands of families,” accused the former social-democratic prime minister, who says he has “many doubts” about the success of the Meer Wonen program announced by the government in mid-February. For Cavaco, there are several “negative measures ” in the series of proposals. But this is not the only problem: “As the government’s track record over the past seven years has not been positive in terms of delivering on the promises made, the new housing program suffers from the credibility problem inherent in the current executive’s policies”Cavaco Silva, who left a council to resolve the issue, said the government “leans on the credibility of the municipal councils”.
For Cavaco Silva, in addition to the problem of lack of credibility, there is “another factor inherent in the current government that calls into question the practical effectiveness of the program” – trust. “During its seven years in power, the government has done its best to undermine investor confidence.”, the former president accused and challenged the government to stop the “absurd idea of making the state an active real estate broker, replacing entrepreneurs and homeowners. Social Security,” he warned: “The books teach that the fundamental instruments of income redistribution policy are taxes and political transfers and not rents from landlords”.
In his speech, Cavaco Silva focused in particular on two measures, the forced rental of vacant properties and the permanent freeze of old rents, two of the proposals that have caused the most controversy and have been particularly poorly received by real estate associations. “The government has dealt two other blows to the climate of investor confidence: the ownership of buildings owned by citizens has been called into question by the threat of forced renting of vacant properties”, Cavaco also noted, adding that “in the face of this conflict of rights – housing rights and property rights – Marxists ignorant of the rules of the market economy prevailing in the European Union” will say: “Let private urban property be collectivized “. And he concluded: “Let’s leave them alone with their ignorance”.
As for “reviving the rent freeze from such a bad memory for pre-1990 rents, with the state paying landlords to update rents,” the former head of state once again drew the credibility of the executive led of Antonio Costa in doubt. “Given the history of the current government, who guarantees that the state will fulfill this obligation in the future and not change the rules as it already has?”he wondered.
Cavaco Silva’s intervention earned the approval of Luís Montenegro, who spoke of a “justified and reasoned” criticism of the government’s measures. The PS, on the other hand, responded by stating that Cavaco’s words are more of the same. “We have become accustomed in recent years to almost always listen to Professor Cavaco Silva with a destructive spirit in relation to the government and in relation to the PS, and today [ontem] was no exception,” João Torres, Joint Secretary General of the Socialists, told Lusa, adding “a former head of state can be expected to adopt a more constructive attitude”.
Madeira’s refusal must be considered and negotiated
The ‘More Housing’ program is also in the crosshairs of the regional authorities. Miguel Albuquerque, leader of the Madeiran executive, has already demanded specific solutions to the regional realities, rejecting measures such as the forced renting of empty houses, the end of visas gold or restrictions on local accommodation. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was in the archipelago on Saturday, came to say that the refusal of these measures should be considered and the subject of discussions with the government, especially at a time when several diplomas are still in public consultation, that is, not yet rounded. “Let’s wait and see what the overall picture is [do programa Mais Habitação]even though there are other alternative proposals”said the president of the republic, referring to the approval in parliament last week of a series of measures presented by the PSD.
Source: DN
