The leader of the PSD parliamentary group in the Azores, João Bruto da Costa, said this Thursday that he hopes that the regional government (PSD/CDS/PPM) will continue the policies of the previous mandate in the region’s 2024 budget.
“We wanted, above all, to call on the regional government to fulfill what it has committed to the Azoreans, not only in the last elections, but also what was already a commitment in this Plan and Budget for 2024, starting with the main measures that were also approved by the majority of Azoreans as a good policy,” he said while talking to reporters.
The President of the regional government, José Manuel Bolheiro, began this Thursday a round of hearings with parties with seats in parliament and social partners as part of the consultation process on the preliminary proposals for the regional plan and budget for 2024, which were rejected on December 23. November 2023, with IL, PS and BE voting against and Chega and PAN abstaining, leading to the resignation of the regional executive and calls for early elections.
Leaving the meeting in Ponta Delgada, João Bruto da Costa expressed satisfaction with the speed with which the Azores executive has begun the process of preparing a new proposal for the region’s 2024 plan and budget.
The leader of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group said he hoped the executive would implement what was already set out in the previous document, which failed in November, but would also contribute to “the commitments already made in the 2024 elections.”
Among the measures that the PSD intends to maintain in the new budget proposal, João Bruto da Costa highlighted taxes with a fiscal difference compared to the continent at the “highest possible level”, “improved income” in agriculture and fisheries, as well as “the end of allocations” to support farmers, the “Azores Tariff” to improve accessibility for Azoreans and “social support measures”.
The PSD/CDU/PPM coalition, which has governed the region since 2020, won regional legislative elections in February without an absolute majority, and a new chief executive, the second led by José Manuel Bolheiro, took office on 4 March.
The government program was approved by the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores on March 15, with a vote in favor of the parties comprising the executive branch, abstentions from Chegi, PAN and IL, and no votes from PS and BE.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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