Luís Montenegro committed, for example, to present an emergency plan for the National Health Service (SNS) within the first 60 days of the new Government, to be implemented until the end of 2025.
Reducing the deadlines for scheduling family health appointments, with teleconsultation as an alternative, and guaranteeing a nurse and family doctor, also using the private and social sectors, are some of the goals of this plan, which also provides for rapid care in primary care ( when dealing with an acute illness) or extend the private ‘voucher’ system that already exists in surgeries to specialist consultations, when waiting times are exceeded.
Montenegro, who led the Democratic Alliance coalition (composed of PSD, CDS-PP and PPM) that won the legislative elections on March 10, also promised to initiate, “immediately” upon taking office, a process of dialogue with teachers’ unions and security forces, albeit with different degrees of commitment.
The PSD has included in the electoral program the full recovery of teachers’ frozen service time, in phases over the next five years (at the rate of 20% per year), and wants to close this negotiation process in the first two months of an executive who leads .
As for the security forces, Montenegro did not bind itself to values, despite having considered, in the campaign, as fair the demand of the PSP and GNR that there be an equalization to the mission supplement already assigned to the Judiciary Police, promising to initiate immediate negotiations if it were Prime Minister.
The location of the future airport in the Lisbon region will be another of the first decisions on the new Government’s table.
“My commitment is, at the beginning of the Government, that we take the final result of the Independent Technical Commission and decide. We will decide, we will try to reach consensus with the PS, which will be the largest opposition party at the time. If we don’t succeed, we will move forward”, assured Luís Montenegro, at a lunch organized by the Portuguese Tourism Confederation, at the end of February.
Other central commitments of the AD’s electoral program relate to medium-term or multi-year measures, such as the reduction of the IRS (mainly for young people, but with global drops up to the eighth bracket) and IRC (from 21 to 15% in three years ) or the increase in the reference value of the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly to 820 euros in a legislative term.
In housing, in addition to tax and bureaucracy reduction measures, the AD promises to “immediately eliminate” the extraordinary contribution for local accommodation or the expiry of licenses and review the legal limitations imposed by the PS Government on this sector, leaving local authorities with the resolution of conflicts that may exist.
The prime minister and the 17 ministers of the XXIV Constitutional Government will take office today and the secretaries of State — who are not yet known — on Friday, and the executive is expected to enter into full office on April 12.
The Constitution determines that a Government only enters into full functions after its program has been assessed by parliament, if it is not rejected.
The Assembly of the Republic will debate the program of the XXIV Constitutional Government on the 11th and 12th of April, a document that will be delivered on the 10th, the leaders’ conference decided last week.
The PCP announced its intention to present a motion to reject the Government’s program, but it is unlikely to be approved, as the PS has indicated that it will not enable this or any other initiative to prevent the executive from taking office.
In the new parliament, the PSD will have 78 deputies (one more than in the previous legislature), the PS also 78 (42 fewer), Chega increases to 50 parliamentarians, IL maintains eight and BE the five deputies, while the PCP decreases from six to four. Livre grows from one to four and PAN keeps its deputy. The CDS-PP returns to parliament with two deputies.
Tags: Government takes office today Montenegro promise campaign fulfill immediately Present
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