“The good way of Socrates” and a “positive” surprise. Reactions to the PS program

“In the good way for a former prime minister, named José Sócrates, to promise everything to everyone,” says Luís Montenegro.

The PSD president, Luís Montenegrocompared the current PS, which presented this Saturday his electoral program to the next legislative elections, to that of former Prime Minister José Sócrates for “promising everything to everyone.”

“Today, our candidate said [na sua intervenção] who was not here to make false promises, that was not here to promise what he could not do. It is curious because at the same time as Fatima [Alves] I was talking, someone further, was presenting the election program for the May 18 legislative elections, and was precisely, In the good way for a former prime minister, named José Sócrates, to promise everything to everyone ”accused Montenegro.

“Now is to promise everything to everyone as if they were feasible, responsible to be, overnight, to promise and give everything to everyone, having no awareness that this is the first step on the way to impoverishmenton the way to have more difficulties in the future than those we have to overcome today, ”said the PSD leader.

Luís Montenegro highlighted the importance of the country creating wealth, because if not, there will be no distribution.

“If you do not create yourself, you cannot distribute. If you reduce everything to distribute, which is what the Socialist Party is doing in Lisbon at this time, it is distributing what it did not want, it will exhaust. And when it exhauses, looks to the side and lack money. And then come the PSD and CDS to compose the thing, is usually what happens,” said the president of the PSD.

Pedro Nuno reacted

The PS secretary general admits that half of what the PSD president said is true, because his party’s promises are intended for all.

“Half of what he says about what we did is true. Half is false, we do not promise everything, but the other half is true, to all“, Said Pedro Nuno, who stressed that PS policy measures” are for all, unlike Luís Montenegro’s politics measures. “

Pedro Nuno Santos considered that he was “another illusion trick” because Luís Montenegro was not watching the PS electoral program, since he was “sitting on an audience”.

“He tried to pass the idea that what we were presenting was not payable, that we were irresponsible. We, who left the country with a historical budgetary surplus,” he said.

According to the PS secretary-general, the proposals presented on Saturday “cost the same as Luis Montenegro has decided to do without IRC, which will benefit some companies, 1,500 million euros.”

With regard to tax matter, Pedro Nuno Santos said that what separates his party from the PSD “is ​​not the reduction of taxes”, but the way this reduction is made.

“Missing the government leader and a lack of credibility to the project that the government said to have for Portugal”I had accused before.

“It will not lower the prices of houses”

The Leader of the Left Block Mariana Mortágua It does not commit to an agreement on the left and stresses that it has not read the program in depth, but has already drawn conclusions about one of the priorities of Pedro Nuno Santos’s program.

“A certainty I can give: PS measures will not lower the prices of houses. I guarantee,” he said.

A “Sign of Times”

Although investments were not announced, the program “greatly increased the number of paragraphs Defense“, Note Helena Matos na CNN.

It did not want to commit, but the program seeks to “ensure the reinforcement of the safety of submarine cables that pass through Portuguese waters and other critical infrastructures”.

“It is a sign of the times And I find it very positive that the socialist party made this reference, ”says the commentator.

In January, NATO launched patrols in the Baltic Sea following suspicions of telecommunications and energy. European authorities warned of increasing hybrid threats from Russia.

Submarine cables are vulnerable to cuts and listening, which requires sophisticated equipment that few countries have. According to CSIS, it demonstrated it both capacity and the intention to reach critical underwater telecommunications infrastructures from NATO countries.

The program “Identifies where Montenegro may be failing,” believes Rui Pedro Antunes, the observer’s policy editor. “People complain that everything is very expensive,” and “just walk in public transport, cafes or talk to friends to realize it.”

“The issue of VAT zero and trying to focus ideologically and facing the problem of people” shows that Pedro Nuno is aware of that, he believes.

In the election program in Lisbon, the PS wants, in particular, an annual increase in the national minimum wage in at least 60 euros per year to reach 1,110 euros by 2029, and reduce the work week to 37.5 hours.

The PS also proposes in the electoral program the permanent IVA zero in a cabal of food goods, as was temporarily applied by the government of António Costa due to inflation, and reduce this tax to 6% in electricity up to 6.9 kVA.

The party also argues that it is necessary to “reduce taxes based on an intelligent, selective fiscal policy, which promotes a more balanced distribution of income and encourages investment.”