The PSD president and the BE coordinator disagreed today on the whole line on the options regarding salaries, the model for the National Health Service (SNS) and the way of financing Social Security.
The face to face between Rui Rio and Catarina Martins, broadcast on SIC, focused on the differences between the two parties in terms of the economic model they defend for the country.
“I can even negotiating with BE, but reaching an understanding is very difficult. When we look at the BE program, there is a complete incompatibility, BE wants more expenses, more taxes”, stated Rui Rio.
Catarina Martins countered that the BE “did a lot” for budgetary balance and argued that the four-year period in which Portugal grew the most since joining the euro was the period of governance of the so-called “geringonça”, between 2015 and 2019. “Contrary to what the right, it is with wages that the country can grow”, he said, criticizing Rui Rio for having said that the increase in the minimum wage would cause more unemployment and bankruptcies.
In his response, the PSD leader defended that the minimum wage “has to increase in a way that all wages can grow”. “If you accelerate the increase in the SMN, companies cannot increase other salaries and level them down. BE wants to do away with the rich, I want to do away with the poor”, he said.
Both party leaders also advocated different solutions to deal with problems in the health sector.
“Portugal spends more than the European average in terms of health and has a worse service delivery than the European average (…) At this moment, throwing more money at the SNS is no longer the priority, the priority is to manage well what is poorly managed”, defended the PSD president.
Rio reiterated that its objective is not to “privatize the health sector”, but to “call the private sector to complement” what the public sector has shown not to be able to do, warning that about four million Portuguese already have health insurance private sector, in addition to paying their taxes.
“We have to negotiate public-private partnerships (PPP) to the advantage of both parties, in I wish they bring the State better service and cheap socks (…) If so, why don’t I?”, he questioned, admitting a human resources policy in health that allows an “additional premium” to those who produce the most.
On the contrary, Catarina Martins defended that “more money will be needed for health” and accused the PSD of wanting to “take advantage of the pandemic crisis so that health can be a business”. “Do you want to hand over Hospital de São João to the Mello group, São José to the Chinese at Fosun?”, he criticized, noting that in the pandemic it was the SNS that “was worth” to the Portuguese and that their fragile situation should not be taken advantage of “the dismantle”, although admitting specific contracts with the social and private sectors.
“I don’t give up on the SNS either, I don’t want to put the bones in the SNS and the meat in the private”, assured Rio, saying agree that “the SNS is not about making a profit”.
In Social Security, Rio defended that the base “has to be public” – “if we privatized completely or almost, we would put future pensions in the stock market, imagine the danger it was” – but admitted (as he already predicted in the 2019 electoral program) a mixed system.
“It is different to be able to have a mixed system, which has to be articulated, consensual, a system with a public base, which can be complemented with a capitalization base”, he said, considering that this reform cannot be r made while it is perceived that, due to demographic erosion, it will generate “a hole” in the State’s accounts.
In the response, Catarina Martins considered it “incomprehensible” that Rio recognizes that “it is a danger” put pensions on the stock exchange, but tell workers to put part of their money in these funds instead of in the public Social Security.
The coordinator of the BE highlighted, in this regard, that the so-called “tax Mortágua” (an addition to the Municipal Property Tax), has already raised 477 million euros for Social Security between 2018 and 2020. here we make choices and what BE wants is to protect pensions and for pensions to grow”, he criticized.
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