The leader of Chega warned on Wednesday that any government measure that increases the price of fuel in Portugal will be met with “firm opposition” from the party in the State Budget, considering that it would be wrong at a political and economic level.
At a press conference at Chega’s national headquarters in Lisbon, André Ventura was asked about the news from Jornal de Negócios that the government is considering ending extraordinary support for fuels.
“It is a brutal mistake that also goes against what the PSD itself has defended in parliament in recent years”the leader of Chega reacted.
André Ventura said that, according to the OECD, Portugal today has “one of the highest tax pressures on fuels”stressing that the PS has always refused to make “any significant reduction” in these taxes and “the PSD has always been, like Chega, on the side of tax reduction in this matter”.
“Therefore, I do not understand why the Government is ending the extraordinary support for fuels without saying the opposite. What is the opposite? That is to say that taxes on fuel will be lowered, either in terms of ISP or VAT,” he stressed.
Ventura warned that if the government ends the extraordinary support and does not lower fuel taxes, “this means that the price of diesel, gas oil and petrol will increase,” stating that he hopes that the government “does not go any further.”
“Any measure like this that appears in the 2025 State Budget will have our very strong opposition at the budgetary level. “As we have already made clear to the Government in the negotiations we had at the meeting in July,” he said.
Ventura added that “Any policy that involves increasing fuel prices in Portugal is wrongand it is not only wrong from a political point of view, but also from an economic point of view, because the industry has to compete with the European industry on equal terms.”
Asked if this issue was discussed at the July meeting with the Government on the State Budget, Ventura replied that the fiscal issue was, after having told the executive that, if it chooses to “have a fiscal policy equal to that of the PS, we cannot ask for the support of Chega in the State Budget.”
At this press conference, Ventura also criticised the PS for visiting hospitals – stressing that “it is the last one that can talk about financing the health system” – but stressed that the Government is not “better” in this area either. socialist executives.
Ventura stated in particular that the Government “chose to remove from public information emergencies, for example in obstetrics, that are closed or that are open,” considering that this was done to prevent “journalists and opposition parties from knowing what is happening.” “It is working and it is not.”
The Chega leader also accused the executive of Luís Montenegro of having presented an emergency health program with 54 measures, but so far only two have been implemented.
“This is not the same as the socialist government: it is below what the socialist government did. The government cannot simply blame the previous government when it itself presents 54 emergency health measures and only two are being implemented,” he said.
Ventura announced that Chega will present two draft resolutions to recommend that the Government republish the emergency services that are closed on the SNS Portal and also that it “immediately comply with what it itself presented, which is the emergency plan.”
“If this does not happen, Chega, in the face of the State Budget, will call on the Government to assume responsibility in this matter,” he said.
Source: Observadora
