Bloc, PCP and PAN – former partners of PS in parliament – they expressed disappointment with the Prime Minister’s Christmas message, pointing out omissions in relation to the various “problems” facing the country.
The traditional message that Antonio Costa delivered this Saturday at RTP1 was practically dedicated to the covid-19 pandemic, praising health professionals and admittedly “restrained” due to the election period.
It was a “monothematic speech,” said Pedro Filipe Soares, leader of the bloc faction, who wanted to hear a few words about “teachers who are absent from schools and how this affects families”, about “climate change” or about climate change. … “Fighting economic crime” a year later, “once again marked by the fraud of millionaires.” In a video message sent to the newsroom, Pedro Filipe Soares also mentioned the omission of “precarious work”.
This idea is also shared by the leader of the communist faction, who expected “the prospect of a global response to problems of the country and the Portuguese people “… João Oliveira specifically referred to “the plight of millions of Portuguese” who, this holiday season, are experiencing “problems of unemployment, low wages or low pensions, unregulated working hours or lack of job security, lack of access to housing or the risk of loss.” this, or the absence of a nursery for their children. “
In a video sent to the newsroom, the leader of the communist faction indicated that Antonio Costa limited himself to talking about the NHS and praising the professionals – which is “deserved” – but defended that it was important to move forward with “implementing measures” in response to the pandemic, such as “strengthening public health teams, recruiting more health professionals, resuming appointments, examinations and surgeries, or even paying a risk subsidy to health professionals. ”
The lack of guidance on “effective career assessment” of healthcare workers, “the conditions in which they work, and increased investment in the NHS” is also a failure, which PAN spokeswoman Ines Souza Real pointed out to the Prime Minister. Christmas message from the minister.
The MP also wanted to hear from the Prime Minister “concern” and “effective commitment” to fighting poverty and a word about “one of the greatest challenges” of our time – the climate crisis. “The environmental issue has not disappeared in the background, and for the same reason, Christmas should be greener,” he said, advocating “less consumption and less waste” this holiday season.
“Propaganda” and “pandemic disease”
Criticism was also voiced on the right, in particular over how Antonio Costa focused his speech on the pandemic. SDP vice-president André Coelho Lima believes that “the idea that the pandemic is the main evil” in the country was conveyed, which is “not true.”
In a similar vein, centrist leader Philip Correia Pinto pointed to the prime minister’s intention to “generalize Portugal as a covid or fear of illness”, rejecting “a political restriction in which Antonio Costa wants to close” the country until a legislative decision is made. … units.
João Cotrim de Figueiredo, leader of the Liberal Initiative, said he saw a Christmas message “no hope, no future,” which accused the prime minister of “not missing out on an opportunity to propagate.”
Chega’s president, André Ventura, also defended that the prime minister’s statement did not bring “anything new” and showed that Antonio Costa was “unable” to take responsibility for the country’s problems.
