Government rejects ‘commercialisation of political beliefs’ and wants ‘open dialogue’ with opposition

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs rejected the “commercialization of political convictions” in the Assembly of the Republic, stressing that the government has a “sense of responsibility” and insisted that it is ready to negotiate with the opposition in an “open and frank dialogue”.

Speaking to Lusa news agency as part of the State of the Nation debate taking place on Wednesday in the Assembly of the Republic, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pedro Duarte said the government is aware that it does not have an absolute majority and has promoted dialogue with the opposition on issues such as the anti-corruption legislative package or housing and immigration policies.

“Perhaps we are not very used to this and do not want to get very used to it, agreeing in the corridors about voting here, voting there, turning, so to speak, political convictions into a commodity. We do not do this. We have ideas and we have a sense of the state and a sense of responsibility, and in this sense we are absolutely open, not only accessible, but also interested in establishing conversations, negotiations, frank, open, positive dialogue with the opposition,” he said.

Pedro Duarte called on the opposition to “have the greatness to put the interests of the country above party interests.”

The minister noted that some parties, such as PS and Chega, have achieved coalitions in a “very unwise and unexpected way” because they are political forces “that criticize each other in rhetoric, but then, at the moment of truth, they come together” by approving initiatives in parliament.

Pedro Duarte said that if “these parties pay less attention to their private interests” and more to “the interests of the country,” the negotiations “can be successful and the dialogue can be constructive.”

“Now if these parties think that what interests them most and therefore is their ultimate goal is to boycott the actions of the government, to harm the success of the government, to sabotage the performance of the government in some way and ultimately to bring down the government, to create a crisis to try to achieve some party successes, if that is the attitude, then it will be very difficult,” he warned.

Despite this, a government official said he believed “a sense of responsibility will come to the fore.”

Asked about the current state of the nation, Pedro Duarte said the government is “enthusiastic” and “very optimistic” about the work done since taking office in April and believes “the country is different.”

“We are convinced that we are breathing better, that we are breathing more positively, and we have gone from a time when we looked at governance and public policy very much focused on cases, in small cases, on partisan squabbles, to a time when we are now focused on policies, programs, packages of measures that are aimed at the quality of life of people and the future of the country,” he said.

After just over a hundred days in government, Pedro Duarte recalled the measures already adopted by the leader of the PSD/SDS-PP minority, such as the 100% contribution to medicines for beneficiaries of the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly, which also increased the benefit by 50 euros per month, and excluded the income of children as an exclusion factor.

A government official also listed an agreement with teachers’ unions to restore seniority or measures on health, housing, immigration and youth.

A state of the nation debate is scheduled for Wednesday, the first since the SDP/CDU-PP minority leader took office, with Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and the rest of the government taking part.