this Socialist Party Portugal asserted its absolute majority in Parliament this Friday. pass alone Only the livestock party PAN and the Europeanist party abstained from the budgets, leaving Livre, both represented by a single MP. The remaining formations, left and right, rejected the calculations with harsh criticism. manager António Costa, who, despite his obvious desire for dialogue, finally rejected the vast majority of the amendments presented by the parties. With the approval of these budgets, the Government made the difference with its former leftist partners. economic instability and with rapidly rising inflation.
The main point of disagreement was in pensions. The government argues that retirees will not lose their purchasing power after it approves an extra salary in October and an increase of between 3.53% and 4.43% for next year, but opposition parties assure them. increases are lower than prescribed by law, which should be updated according to consumer price index (CPI) and Gross Domestic Product growth. The socialist bench has approved an upward revision next year if inflation is higher than expected, but the remaining parliamentary formations think insufficiently.
Criticism of socialists
Conservative, main opposition party Social Democratic Party (PSD) blamed the socialists “skip the roller” A simple majority approves the budget. Of the 1,800 proposed amendments, Costa’s party accepted close to a hundred, mostly from the PAN and Livre parties. Little is left of their former partners on the left, Left Block and Portuguese Communist PartyThose who accuse the government of only negotiating with big companies. The two sides consider the Executive to be inadequate in its implementation. 33% tax about the extraordinary profits of the main energy companies.
The government, however, dares to give. support for families and overlook the companies deficit and public debt. Measures such as increasing the salaries of civil servants by an average of 3.6% and reducing the income taxes of families with low income, reduce the debt to 110.8% next year – 4 points less than now – and public deficit up to 0.9%Despite the sharp slowdown expected for 2023. The socialist ‘contas certas’ approach continues to be one of the main priorities of the income-expenditure balance.
Conflict with the far right
Socialist spokesperson. Eurico Brilhante Dias, insisted on his party’s desire for dialogue and recalled that they are negotiating with all “democratic” formations. Something that the far-right party does not like chegaThe third power in parliament is the only one that has not endorsed any of its proposals. Its leader, André Ventura, of the formation Recognized by the Constitutional Court and that the deputies are elected under the same democratic norms as the rest. “Making these statements insults the institutions, the political environment and the parliamentary debate,” Ventura said. said.
close 500 change suggestions The Socialists presented by Chega did not accept any of them, thus affirming the isolation that the far right intended to subordinate the entire legislature. An isolation that Ventura uses to stand up “only opposition” Enforcement. Despite the tension, the Socialists gave the green light to the first full budgets since gaining an absolute majority in January of this year. The accounts of the later years of the legislature are also guaranteedalthough everything indicates that the confrontation with the rest of the formations has only just begun.