Socialist leader Mariana Vieira da Silva said today she believed the PS congress expressed pride in the prime minister’s legacy and warned that Portuguese people expect the party to make decisions, not comment on the controversies of the day.
These positions were outlined by the Minister of the Presidential Administration in a speech she made before the 24th National Congress of the PS, which ends on Sunday at the Lisbon International Fair.
According to Mariana Vieira da Silva, who is a member of the outgoing National Secretariat of the PS, the first two days of the congress have already allowed some conclusions to be drawn: congressmen “showed pride in the legacy of eight years of government under the leadership of António Costa.” ; There is unity around the program and the new Secretary General,” Pedro Nuno Santos.
In the final part of his speech, he made the following comment, looking at his party’s path leading up to the March 10 legislative elections.
“The Portuguese are looking to us for answers and solutions, not a reaction to current controversies,” he stressed, before calling for the PS to prepare a new agenda for the Decade, a document drawn up in the first year of António’s government. Costa’s Guide.
At the intra-party level, he expressed his willingness to contribute to creating an atmosphere of unity around PS General Secretary Pedro Nuno Santos, saying: “We have a strong Secretary General to whom we will add our strength.”
Mariana Vieira da Silva also supported the thesis that the “right accounts”, that is, the fiscal consolidation observed since 2016, was a consequence of the change in economic policies pursued by the leadership of António Costa.
“What got the numbers right was employment growth, income growth, especially in relation to the national minimum wage, reduction in inequality and policies that lifted about 600,000 people out of the risk of poverty,” he stressed.
At this point, he criticized the forces to the right of the PS, saying that “there is no innovation economy based on low wages and limited rights.”
“This is what the right doesn’t understand. They have always been against raising the minimum wage and characterize our defense of the welfare state as an ideological prejudice. To this day they have no choice but to go back,” he said. added.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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