BE organizes parliamentary days in Madeira with a focus on housing, climate and anti-corruption

Bloco de Esquerda organizes its parliamentary days in Madeira on Monday and Tuesday, focusing on debates and the presentation of initiatives on the housing crisis, climate change or the fight against corruption.

Speaking to Lusa, BE parliamentary leader Fabian Figueiredo stressed that these will be parliamentary days that will bring together deputies of the Assembly of the Republic and the deputy elected to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, Roberto Almada.

The blocker justified the choice of location by saying that “Madeira has been ruled for almost 50 years by the worst of the Portuguese right, which applies a program that the Democratic Alliance wants to apply to the entire national territory,” criticizing the current PSD/CDU-PP minority government led by Luis Montenegro.

From the point of view of the parliamentary leader of the bloc, such right-wing management leads to “deregulation of the housing market” and “active encouragement of real estate speculation.”

“The right wants to convince the country that more construction will solve the problem of housing prices. But that’s not true. Madeira is one of the regions of the country where there is the most new construction and, at the same time, housing prices continue to rise because, since there is regulation of the housing sector, all new construction is absorbed by the luxury segment,” he criticized.

In this context, BE intends to introduce initiatives to “control rent prices, reduce house prices and reduce home loan costs.”

Another topic to be discussed will be a “just climate transition”, with the parliamentary group defending that Portugal “can and should do more to combat and mitigate climate change” by pushing forward carbon neutrality targets.

“Climate transition can and must mean new jobs, skilled jobs and smart investment in key areas. We will submit proposals in this regard,” he said.

BE also wants to present proposals for “qualifying democracy in the Autonomous Region of Madeira and throughout the country” and “introducing more transparency and anti-corruption rules,” citing as an example the end of Potential National Interest (PIN) projects. a commitment he made during the legislative campaign.

“But we also want to draw attention to the fact that the incompatibility law has not yet entered into force in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. This means that, unlike what happens in the Parliament of the Azores or the Assembly of the Republic, it is possible for an elected representative in the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira to develop private activities incompatible with the development of his mandate. This is incomprehensible to us,” he criticized.

In addition, Fabian Figueiredo complained that the lists of candidates for the elections to the regional parliament of Madeira are “the only ones that do not establish parity criteria.”

Asked if this could be a campaign moment as the region goes to the polls again on May 26, Fabian Figueiredo rejected that this was the party’s goal, saying MPs would focus on presenting proposals and adding that the idea arose before the this vote is scheduled.

According to the published program, the opening of the days is scheduled for 14.30, with a press conference in the regional parliament, at which the initiatives will be presented. Previously, a visit to Praia Formosa is planned in the morning. A contact action with the population is planned for Monday afternoon in Funchal, and a rally with dinner in the evening.

On Tuesday, BE’s parliamentary days will begin with “local and working meetings”, followed by a final press conference in the afternoon to present the parliamentary leader’s initiatives.