PS claims youth is not forgotten and accuses SDP of feeding on lack of hope

This Friday, the PS denied accusations that the government had forgotten the youth and denounced that the SDP “feeds on a lack of hope”, assuring that reforms have been made that are working for this segment of the population.

“We can point to several reforms, from a fledgling tax administration to labor law reform, pay hike agreements, and reforms in higher education, to demonstrate that this is clearly not the case.” [de esquecer os jovens]This was stated by PS MP Miguel Costa Matos in a statement to the Lusa news agency.

The general secretary of the Socialist Youth (JS) thus reacted to the accusations made this Friday by the first vice-president of the Social Democratic Party, Paulo Rangel, that the “gray government” of António Costa “has completely forgotten the youth in its politics.” in areas such as education, housing and the environment.

According to Miguel Costa Matos, it cannot be said that the PS government has forgotten about young people, referring to the fact that “all these various measures contribute to the improvement” of their lives.

The decision to ignore these measures, which he accuses the SDP of, “does a disservice”, according to the MP, as it prevents “serious debate about public policies that can allow young people to have a horizon of hope” in Portugal.

“It is clear that the main opposition party feeds on a lack of hope, intractable and long-term problems that can be criticized. What, unfortunately, we do not see from the SDP are proposals,” he countered.

The socialist also added that in cases where the SDP puts forward proposals, they appear “following those reforms that the PS has already presented.”

“Over the past eight years, we have had the opportunity to make reforms, and it is curious that the right prefers to hide these reforms instead of criticizing them. We can take this as a sign that they are having an effect,” he said.

The reforms, according to the PS deputy, are mainly in work, in the economy, in higher education, in education and in wages, changes that “have had an effect”, despite the fact that “the path is not completed and therefore it is important to continue.”

“And the right, choosing not to criticize them, only demonstrates that the reforms that we have carried out so far are correct, they are on the right track and must be continued,” he said.

Miguel Costa Matos acknowledged that “in housing, young people still face many challenges, not only in student accommodation, but also in youth emancipation.”

“Our job will be to continue the reforms, not forgetting what we have already done, but realizing that this path is producing results and that the only way forward is not how the right wanted to devalue wages,” he stressed. He.