Livre defends that the government and PS should stop “the intoxication of the absolute majority”

This Thursday, Livre defended that the government and PS should “stop the intoxication with an absolute majority” and classified the vote of no confidence presented by the Liberal Initiative as a “minor political gesture.”

“The government and the PS must stop their absolute majority intoxication and realize that the only way for a government with an absolute majority to be respected in our time is to govern as if they did not have an absolute majority,” he defended. .

Speaking to Lusa, the party’s sole deputy in the Assembly of the Republic, Ruy Tavares, also classified the movement of no confidence in the government, announced this Thursday by the Liberal Initiative, as “simply a minor political gesture.”

“It’s natural, but does it really mean taking the opportunity to say that people should go and vote when it hasn’t even been a year since they voted? And not being able to offer an alternative? IL wants the government to fall and wants to rule with whom?” asked Rui Tavares.

For the MP and historian, “the question of mistrust is a serious tool to be used seriously and implies the existence of an alternative government.”

“So, IL wants to go into government along with PS? With what majority does IL want to form a government? government in who will be below Chega in the hierarchy? Therefore, it is simply a non-essential political gesture,” he defended.

According to the leader of Livre, “either the party realizes when it is going to defend its vote of no confidence in the half-cycle of the path it wants to offer the country,” or “this vote of no confidence is just a figure.” style and just a figure of rhetoric.

“But this, unfortunately, is what IL taught us to do, and even now, in the context of internal disagreements in the leadership, they always try to pretend that they are doing something, even if these things are not properly reflected,” shot is he.

With regard to the departure of the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, and the current crisis in the government, the sole deputy believes that “2023 should really be a ‘new year, new life’ in terms of demands, in terms of transparency, dialogue and openness with other party forces and in terms of modernizing political procedures.”

With regard to this last point, the MP insisted on the proposal, appearing in the Livre political program, to hear leaders in parliamentary hearings before taking office, similar to what happens “with the European Commissioners and the European Parliament”, but not only.

“How is it possible that Portugal does not have a system that includes a simple questionnaire for any new public official, asking him if he has or had disputes with the state or with state companies, whether he received compensation or if he would receive compensation if sources of income have been accumulated and which ones, what is being done everywhere,” he asked.

In terms of governance, he continued, “it is necessary that if the prime minister says that this mandate is for four years, then in fact he is supposed to have a dialogue with his country within the framework of this mandate, and that he is much more effective and timely in implementing political coordination, preventing problems, and not only reacting later, when problems have already grown.

Infrastructure and Housing Minister Pedro Nuno Santos resigned on Wednesday evening to “take political responsibility” in a €500,000 TAP compensation case against a former finance minister.

It was the third government resignation in two days, after Alexandra Reis of the Treasury portfolio found herself at the center of a controversy over compensation, and Secretary of State for Infrastructure Hugo Santos Mendez followed Pedro Nuno Santos’ decision. .

The Liberal Initiative has already announced a vote of no confidence in the government in Parliament, where the PS has an absolute majority.

Finance Minister Fernando Medina fired Secretary of State for the Treasury on Tuesday, less than a month after Alexandra Reis took office and after four days of wrangling over a €500,000 settlement from Pedro Nuno Santos’ TAP.

Alexandra Reis was compensated for her early departure in February from her position as chief executive of the air carrier. In June, the government appointed her chairman of the Navegação Aérea de Portugal (NAV), and this month she was elected finance minister.

The decision to compensate Alexandre Reis, reported by Correio da Manhã, was criticized by all the opposition and was even called into question by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, when he said that it would be “fine” to do without the quantity.