The PCP rebelled this Wednesday against the Government’s plan to withdraw advertising from RTP and called for a civic uprising in defense of the public television service, receiving support from the left and criticism from the right.
This position was conveyed by the communist deputy António Filipe during the period of political statements, in the Assembly of the Republic, in a speech in which he highlighted the positive financial results recorded by RTP in recent years.
António Filipe defended RTP’s role in preserving information pluralism, as well as its contribution to the quality of programming, especially in terms of culture and fiction.
In that sense, criticized the intention of the PSD/CDS executive to progressively withdraw RTP advertising and launch a reorganization plan with the departure of some 250 workers which, according to the estimate presented, will cost 19.9 million euros in compensatory compensation.
“The Government intends to devalue the public radio and television service. There is no justification for these measures, which will only benefit individuals. “We are facing a serious attack on RTP, an offensive that requires civic agitation to stop it,” he said.
This position of António Filipe was later questioned by PSD deputy Andreia Bernardo, responding that the Government presented 30 measures to combat the “long crisis” in the media and that “there is no attack on RTP.”
“The Government wants to modernize RTP, something that has been postponed for the last eight years. The Government does not have any layoff plans, funding cuts or privatization plans. RTP belongs to everyone, it belongs to the Portuguese, it is not left-wing,” concluded the social democratic deputy, who spoke before the leader of the Liberal Initiative, Rodrigo Saraiva, defended the privatization of the public television channel.
Rodrigo Saraiva considered that the issue is not the end of RTP advertising, but rather the contribution to audiovisuals, in which the citizen pays regardless of whether or not he is an RTP consumer.
For her part, Patrícia Carvalho accused the PCP of having done nothing in relation to RTP between 2015 and 2019, when it was part of “Geringonça”a left-wing parliamentary majority that then supported the first executive of the socialist António Costa.
“Until 2019, the PCP had opportunities to defend policies for the public television service and defend the workers, but it did not do so, because then it was on the PS bandwagon,” he accused.
António Filipe received the support of all left-wing parliamentary groups. The first came from former Secretary of State and current PS deputy, José María Costa, who also pointed out that former Social Democratic ministers such as Nuno Morais Sarmento and Poiares Maduro distanced themselves from the plan recently announced by the current Government.
“We are facing a wrong measure, which puts the future provision of public services at risk. The Government’s plan translates into the decapitalization of RTP,” defended José María Costa.
Livre spokesperson Rui Tavares wonders why the executive has focused on RTP in the country’s current situation, focusing especially on the provision of public radio and television services. Rui Tavares then highlighted the crisis of social communication and the need to fight against misinformation.
“And it is at this moment that the Government withdraws one of the sources of financing for the RTP,” stressed the Livre spokesperson, while the only PAN deputy, Inês de Sousa Real, shortly after expressed “incomprehension of the objective of the current Government of becoming decapitalized.” public television.
On behalf of the Left Bloc, Joana Mortágua pointed out that the Government measure “is not even agreed upon in the PSD” and considered that “it only serves to shake the public service of radio and television.”
Joana Mortágua later suggested that the Government’s plan is of particular interest to individuals. And he remembered António Filipe, the author of the “first tweet” in defense of the PSD/CDS executive by a senior official of the Impresa group.
Source: Observadora
