BE accuses government of ‘dragging its heels’ in talks with doctors in proposal to leave SNS

The coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) accused the government this Monday of “dragging out” negotiations with the doctors’ unions, refusing commitments, and considering that this means for them an invitation to leave the SNS.

Mariana Mortagua spoke at the Belém Palace in Lisbon at the end of the meeting of the BE delegation with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who this Monday began the round of hearings for parties with seats in Parliament, dedicated to the State Budget for 2024.

At these hearings, BE expressed to the President of the Republic its concerns about the situation in the National Health Service (NHS), Mariana Mortagua reported, arguing that it is necessary to hire more specialists in the SNS by reducing the number of overtime hours and increasing the basic salary.

“The Government knows this and instead of reaching out to health professionals who want to solve the NHS problem, they are needlessly dragging out these negotiations. commitments he made in meetings but did not come to any conclusion,” he accused.

According to the coordinator and deputy BU, “at the moment, the government’s inability to come to an agreement with doctors actually results in an invitation for doctors to leave the SNS.”

“Without negotiating, without finding a solution, the government invites them to leave the SNA and in many cases leave the country, and we cannot agree with this,” he stressed.

Another issue that BE raised at the meeting with the head of state this Monday was access to housing, in relation to which Mariana Mortagua stated that “nothing is being done” to stop the rise in interest rates on bank loans and rents, describing the situation as “emergency”.

“Thirdly, we also expressed concern to the President of the Republic about the situation in Palestine,” the BE coordinator added.

Mariana Mortagua reiterated her party’s position on an “immediate ceasefire” and “recognition of the State of Palestine” by the Portuguese government, autonomous from the European Union.

“There is genocide, a process of ethnic cleansing, with the death of thousands of children, thousands of civilians, with attacks on refugee camps, on hospitals, an unstable situation. In the face of consistent attacks on international law, violations of international law, Portugal must have an autonomous voice by law,” he said.

Without directly addressing her expressed disagreement with the statements of the President of the Republic on this matter, the MP asked Portugal to “speak with one voice” and join the position of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). , Antonio Guterres.

Regarding the recognition of the State of Palestine, Mariana Mortagua stated that “in fact, the parliament has already recognized it.”

In December 2014, the Assembly of the Republic approved a resolution on the recognition of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state, which was proposed by the PSD, PS and SDS-PP and approved by these three parties, but which stipulates that this recognition will be done in coordination with the European Union.

This resolution recommends that the government “recognize, in coordination with the European Union, the State of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state in accordance with the principles established by international law.”

At that time, the most left-wing parties saw proposals recommending recognition of the State of Palestine without agreement with the European Union rejected.

The BE has now reintroduced an initiative in this regard – a draft resolution that was tabled on October 27 for the government to “immediately recognize the State of Palestine with the borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War.”