Paulo Raimundo and Andre Ventura want to fight corruption, but the PCP says it does not follow any of Chegi’s “initiatives.”

Chegi and PKP leaders Andre Ventura and Paulo Raimundo respectively held a face-to-face debate this Friday on CNN as part of the campaign ahead of the 2024 legislative elections.

Paulo Raimundo and Andre Ventura want to fight corruption, but the PCP says it “does not follow” any of Chegi’s “initiatives.”

“We do not support Chega’s initiative in the Assembly of the Republic, we have projects that we will put to a vote,” says Paulo Raimundo when asked if he will join Chega on this issue. “The only way to fight corruption lies at the core of corruption, namely privatization and tax havens.”

Andre Ventura states that “corruption is present in Portugal from the lowest to the highest level”, adding that corruption occurs not only in the private sector but also in the public sector, and the PKP ironically accuses the PKP of being against “corruption in general, it is a common phenomenon that no one knows what it is.”

“Contrary to what PCP did, I was not opposed to PCP taking measures that were good for the country,” Ventura says.

Chegi’s party advocates a progressive increase in pensions and states that while previously pensioners “had little medicine and little food, now they have to choose between medicine and food.” He also wants the minimum wage to be increased to 1,000 euros.

Raimundo, on the contrary, says that he wants 70 euros this year “to increase pensions”, and also intends to restore the retirement age to 65 years.

“The PKP and Paulo Raimundo always say that health is bad, pensions and salaries are bad, but they approved five state budgets of the PS,” says the Chegi leader.

Raimundo says he wants a 15% increase in wages and fixed prices, especially for “communications and electricity.” He adds that “The solution is not to raise taxes, but to ease the burden of product prices.” He also wants to lower the IRC rate for companies.

When it comes to housing, Ventura wants the state to act as a guarantor for young people when purchasing their first home, and “wants an IRS waiver of up to 100 thousand because income is not the only issue, so the state can be a guarantor for young people people have access to the house.”

“The state does not provide entry, it only provides a guarantee of entry,” he adds.

The PCP advocates building 50,000 homes over the next four years, “with some built and others rebuilt.”

On immigration, the two leaders disagree again. President Chegi wants to create a society in which borders and emigration are controlled, since “emigration is people’s seventh or eighth concern, so the parties must respond.” It goes on to say that “It’s not a hindrance,” but he says that “the most developed countries in Europe control immigration.”

“Countries should welcome and welcome, but there should be control because at the moment there are no criteria,” he says.

“We have to put up barriers in time and the PKP wants everyone to be left without control and we are saying that we must control to have a safe country,” says the Chegi leader.

Paulo Raimundo, on the contrary, says that “emigration is a very big problem in our country, but there are thousands of people who go abroad in search of a better life, and those who come also come in search of a better life.”