The president of IL, Rui Rocha, today accused the socialist leader of being committed to “opposing António Costa’s PS” with the “tactical” letter sent to the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, which left “a large part of the country out”.
Speaking to journalists in parliament, Rui Rocha criticized Pedro Nuno Santos for having sent a letter today to the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, in which he offered to negotiate an agreement that would resolve the situation of certain professional groups in the public administration within 60 days.
“This is evidence and confirmation that Pedro Nuno Santos and Pedro Nuno Santos’ PS are committed to opposing António Costa’s PS,” he accused, considering that this does not solve the “problems of the Portuguese”.
Despite endorsing the need to look at the careers of health professionals, police officers and teachers, the IL leader criticized the fact that this missive leaves “a large part of the country out” and questioned whether these areas are not a priority for the PS.
Among the examples of what hasn’t been addressed, Rui Rocha pointed to students without teachers, users without appointments and surgery on time or “families and companies stifled by taxes”.
“More than this tactful exchange of letters about a possible amending budget – which probably won’t even exist – and this demonstration of openness, which is itself tactful because it has a deadline, what we need to ask the prime minister is whether or not, in addition to these careers, he is in a position to guarantee the tax cuts needed for families and businesses, the health reform, that the next school year will start with teachers in schools, if the electoral system will not waste hundreds of thousands of votes,” he asked.
Rui Rocha considered that these are “structural issues that not even Pedro Nuno Santos has yet wanted to address” and on which there is still no vision from the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister confirmed today that he had received the letter from the PS secretary-general, to which he will “naturally respond”, according to a source in Luís Montenegro’s office.
“The letter has been received and will of course be answered,” a source in the prime minister’s office told Lusa.
The secretary-general of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, wrote to the prime minister today, offering to negotiate an agreement that would resolve the situation of certain professional groups in the public administration within 60 days, a letter to which the Lusa news agency has had access.
On March 19, after a hearing with the President of the Republic in Belém, Pedro Nuno Santos had expressed his willingness to allow an amending budget of the AD limited to “matters of consensus”, referring to the upgrading of the salary scales of these professional groups in the public administration by the beginning of the summer.
A day later, when asked about this challenge, Luís Montenegro said he was “pleased to note the sense of responsibility” of the communication made by the PS secretary-general, but declined to answer whether he would be available to negotiate the viability of a possible amending budget.
https://www.portugalpulse.com/prime-minister-confirms-having-received-letter-from-ps-secretary-general-and-promises-to-reply/
