This Wednesday, the PSD chairman accused the government of punishing the Portuguese with “extra taxes” and then “pretending to have a social policy” and distributing part of the surplus “in the summer or a little before Christmas”.
At the presentation of the new JSD magazine “A Democrata”, at the Lisbon Book Fair, Luís Montenegro resorted to the government’s forecasts in the state budget for the collection of tax revenue – a growth of 3%, about 2.3 billion euros – to conclude that it has been surpassed by the revenues accounted for until April alone, which have already been collected about 2.5 billion more than in the same period of 2022.
“We pay more taxes compared to what we need to fulfill the duties of the state budget”he concluded.
So he challenged the Prime Minister and the government to change their attitude: “We can no longer agree with this principle that we charge first and then pretend we have a social policy to help those who need it most, first we punish, we inflict suffering and sacrifice, and when our pockets are full, we take a part – only a part – of the surplus and distribute it”.
“Usually in the middle of summer or just before Christmas”he added.
In an audience mainly made up of members of the social-democratic youth, Montenegro opined that there was a contradiction in Portuguese society, which he said should be resolved “as soon as possible”.
“I cannot resign myself to a country that loses two or three tens of thousands of qualified young people every year and delivers them to our destination countries for free after we have invested so much of our effort and resources into qualifying them”he said, as such a situation should “shame all politicians and especially government officials”.
In fact, the chairman of the PSD believed that this problem has worsened in recent years and warned that it is unfair to compare the current period with what happened in the ‘troika’ years.
“Once the country’s ability to decide its future is restored, it is difficult to understand how the government of the Republic will come to terms with this situation”criticized.
In his speech – he did not speak to the media on the sidelines – Montenegro considered it “a pain in the soul” that the country is unable to retain “a highly qualified youth”, and listed some measures that are already had been proposed by the PSD. , such as a 15% IRS for young people up to age 35, tax exemptions on their first home or state aid to cover part of the loan guarantee for the purchase of a home.
“We are often accused of not having solutions, alternatives or policies, but that has already been translated into bills”he stressed, pointing to other proposals in the context of the constitutional review, such as the creation of a council for territorial and generational cohesion or lowering the voting age to 16 years.
Montenegro called on rulers and politicians to take risks and accept bold solutions, accusing the PS of being “the ‘powerpoint’ government that stirs and stirs and leaves everything the same”.
Earlier, the leader of the JSD, Alexandre Poço, justified the launch of a physical magazine (which will also have an online version) with the aim of “producing thinking” in the political field of the PSD, in an era more focused on digital.
The first issue of the magazine, which will be published monthly, features an article by the president of the PSD, in which he chooses “public services, taxation, constitutional revision and housing” as the four axes to give Portuguese youth “a new hope”. to give. and a new ambition”.
The former leader of the CDS-PP, Paulo Portas, also writes in this edition, recalling that when he was a member of the JSD, he edited the ‘jovem’ supplement that was part of the PSD’s official newspaper, Povo Liver.
“I remember that editorial activism because my political conscience was born of a youthful admiration (unchanged to this day) for Francisco Sá Carneiro”writes the former deputy prime minister of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition government between 2011 and 2015 led by Pedro Passos Coelho.
Source: DN
