The expansion of consumer rights in the Constitution proposed by the PS received a general consensus on Wednesday from the parties, which, on the contrary, rejected a proposal by Chega to enshrine the “duty to work.”
At the March 29 meeting of the constitutional review commission, the PS presented a proposal to include in the fundamental law that all consumers have the right to “services of general economic interest in conditions of universality, equality and equity”, including within of these “water supply, sanitation, energy, urban public transport, telecommunications, post and others provided by law.” For these sectors, the coordinator of the PS, Pedro Delgado Alves, also defended, “the necessary public service obligations” should be defined by law.
For the PSD, the deputy Márcia Passos said that the party “has sympathy for the proposal presented”, which paves the way for the two-thirds necessary for its approval, necessary in any reform to the constitutional text.
Deputy IL João Cotrim Figueiredo also expressed openness, although he asked for wording changes, considering that the idea of free services cannot remain.
Along the same lines, Chega, BE, PCP and IL also said they had no objections, assuring the socialist Pedro Delgado Alves full availability to “smooth rough edges” in the final proposal.
The meeting, which lasted about three hours, focused mainly on workers’ rights. The former president of the PSD, Rui Rio, was brought to the discussion through the deputy of the PCP Manuel Loff, who “debuted” in the commission, which raised questions from some parties, since he is neither a regular nor a substitute.
However, Marta Temido, vice president of the commission, after consulting the services, cited the Regulation that allows all deputies to attend and participate in any commission, without the right to vote, although asking that the understanding be validated in session. of the Board and coordinators.
The name of the former mayor of Porto was the subject of debate when discussing the article on the right to work, which Chega wanted to transform into a “duty and right to work”, excepting from this obligation only those who suffer a “decrease in capacity for reasons of age, sickness or disability.
“Citizens have the duty to work, contribute to the financing of Social Security”, justified the deputy of Chega Rui Paulo Sousa. The proposal received widespread criticism, with Manuel Loff questioning whether he was talking about forced labor.
“Would it only be imposed on the unemployed poor, depriving them of social support? This was already proposed by a former president of the PSD, Rui Rio, when he was in the Porto Chamber, ”he criticized, an association repudiated by the deputy and leader of the JSD, Alexandre Poço.
The president of the commission, former secretary general of the PSD José Silvano, also asked the deputies to focus on the “interpretation of constitutional norms.”
In this same article, the PS considered enriching a proposal from the PSD to include among the tasks of the State the professional requalification of workers, as well as the densification of the reasons suggested by the BE for the non-discrimination of workers.
The PSD, through the deputy Clara Marques Mendes, considered that it did not make sense to constitutionalize, as the PCP claimed, “the stability of contractual ties” or that the guarantee of coverage of workers by collective regulation instruments, suggested by the BE, stay in the fundamental law.
Along the way, without the necessary two-thirds, there will be proposals from the PCP to reinforce the protection of union leaders and associations or to guarantee that the National Minimum Wage can never be pledged, the parties referring these changes to the ordinary law. .
On the contrary, the commission registered an opening to extend the right of petition and popular action to matters such as urban legality, suggested by the BE, or animal defense and protection, proposed by the PAN.
Source: Observadora
