On Tuesday, the PSD president spoke to pensioners in Portalegre who complained about cuts to their pensions when Passos Coelho was prime minister and to whom he promised to resign if he cut their pensions by even a cent.
“I’m going to tell you here something that I never said on the campaign trail, I’m going to tell you here for the first time to be clear: If I ever have to cut pensions by even a penny, I will resign,” Louis said. Montenegro.
The promise was made during a street rally by the Democratic Alliance (AD) in Portalegre to four retired textile workers sitting at a table in a café, whom the PSD president was trying to convince not to fear further cuts to their wages. pensions.
One of them, sitting in the corner, said she didn’t like seeing former prime minister and former PSD president Pedro Passos Coelho campaigning with Luis Montenegro: “I have to be honest, he’s the one who robbed me.”
“I worked for 43 years. With a meager pension, I was always used to earning little, but it always grows a little. But under Mr. Passos Coelho, nothing grew, everything decreased, everything, everything, everything,” he complained about this. elderly woman.
The PSD chairman responded that Passos Coelho “didn’t steal anything”, asked him “not to say that” and said that the former prime minister “was forced to do it”, that this government was “bankrupt”. restore the country’s position.
Speaking about the future, Luis Montenegro reiterated that “you can be absolutely sure” that if he becomes prime minister, he will not cut pensions: “I make an honest promise, you can really be carefree. our opponents are trying to tell you this to scare you, don’t believe it. It’s my word of honor, it’s true.”
“What was done during that period was done after the PS signed an undertaking that it should be done. That’s all I wanted you to understand. It was not out of will, it was really out of obligation ” he said, adding: “But now we are looking forward, not looking back.”
“Now we are afraid,” explained another pensioner, Maria dos Prazeres, who spoke most with the PSD president. “But don’t,” retorted Luis Montenegro, who, while saying goodbye, heard in response wishes for a “good campaign.”
After this dialogue, when the media asked whether he regretted involving Passos Coelho in the AD campaign, the PSD president replied: “It was what was needed. No, not at all.”
According to Luis Montenegro, reconciliation with older people is “a work in progress.”
“There’s a real misconception about what the last few years have been like. [de Governo PSD/CDS-PP], in which the Portuguese were forced by PS work in the government, which left Portugal in a situation where there was no money to pay either salaries or pensions. And people still have a little memory of that time, and we need to enlighten them and say that we are at a different stage, we are looking into the future,” he said.
The PSD chairman once again confirmed that if a government is formed, it will not make “any cuts to pensions” or “salaries”, and accused the PS of “coming now with this bogeyman”, with “retrograde views”. , looking back, look at the past.”
On the other hand, Montenegro rejected the claim that Passos Coelho is increasing pressure to win, arguing that it is a “natural result” of the legislative elections on March 10: “To be honest, I don’t know who can draw conclusions from this.”
“From the very beginning, our goal is to win the elections. From the very beginning, I say that I have to win the elections,” he said.
In response to journalists, he also downplayed the fact that the PSD and SDS-PP in Madeira are not voting together in the event of early regional elections.
“The regional structures are playing their role, we are extremely mobilized in this AD in these legislative elections and also in Madeira,” Montenegro said along with Nuno Melo, who returned to campaigning today after testing positive for Covid-19.
In Portalegre, the PSD president had another dialogue about pensions with a woman who stood at the door of the house and approached him in a quiet voice: “Pasos Coelho, when he was in the elections, said that he would not go to take away pensions from pensioners, and this soon happened. Are you going to do this? If not, my vote is yours.”
“No, you can be absolutely sure of that. We are not going to change anything about pensions other than updating them every year, updating the lowest ones more and giving an increase called the Senior Solidarity Supplement (CSI). for those with a lower income, in this case 550 euros, and that we want this base value to be 820 euros at the end of these four years,” he replied.
More than 10.8 million Portuguese are called to vote on March 10 to elect 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic.
18 political forces, 15 parties and three coalitions are competing in these elections.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.