Chega inaugurated the phase of presenting proposals to change the State Budget with measures that could represent a headache for the Government. On the one hand, because, as promised, it complicates the accounts on the IRC issue, recovering the tax reduction proposal that the Government had renounced in an attempt to reach an agreement with the PS; on the other, because a proposal for a permanent increase in pensions is advancing, a point at which it could be in line with the left.
In this first wave of amendment proposals, which will begin to be discussed in detail in Parliament in the week of November 22, with the final document to be voted on November 29, Chega proposes an additional 1.5% increase in pensions up to 1,018.52 euros. (two IAS), justifying that “the Government has already admitted that there is some budgetary slack for next year.” At this point, the PS is considering whether to move forward with its own proposal; Pedro Nuno Santos, during the debate on the General State Budget, admitted that he wants pensions to be reinforced next year.
As has happened repeatedly in Parliament, this does not necessarily mean that the PS will align itself with Chega’s proposal or its format, but there may be a vote on proposals with the same principle of increasing pensions, even if in different amounts or formats, in which something ends up happening. So far, the Government has not accepted any permanent increase, having requested an analysis of budget execution, during the summer, to understand whether it is possible to attribute a new “bonus” to pensioners. The proposals to increase pensions could also have the support of more left-wing parties: this Monday, the Bloc confirmed that it will also present its own proposal on the matter.
The IRC may also represent a new difficulty for the Executive. Chega will focus on the issue, returning to the Executive’s original proposal to lower the tax, across the board, by two percentage points, and during the negotiations with the PS the Government reduces the expected drop to one percentage point. Now, further to the right, this decline is considered insufficient; and further to the left, in PS, there is no availability to allow any CRI reduction.
PS will vote against the IRC in the specialty, but is still evaluating whether to advance with a proposal for an extra increase in pensions
It remains to be seen if Chega could, for example, end up making viable the reduction proposed by the Executive, which represents, although insufficiently for the party, a tax reduction. If the PSD were to let Chega’s version pass, this would change the version of the Budget that the PS promised to make viable, but this promise was already fulfilled, unconditionally, by Pedro Nuno Santos. In any case, for Chega, Portugal’s fiscal competitiveness is currently showing a “poor performance”, which needs to be corrected.
The other measures that Chega advances have to do with partisan or thematic banners that he has insisted on in relation to specific professional classes, such as firefighters or police officers. In the case of the former, André Ventura’s party proposes that they be entitled to a monthly remuneration supplement that takes into account the risk of the profession and the need for permanent availability, “composed of a variable component set on the base remuneration and a “fixed component component, in the terms that are regulated.”
In the case of police officers, Chega insists on increasing the risk complement for the GNR and personnel with police functions of the PSP, as well as for the Prison Guard Corps, so that there is no “sense of decrease” thanks to the increases planned for some careers in the Judicial Police. The Government’s agreement with the PSP and the GNR, “which translated into a progressive escalation of the increase in the fixed component of these supplements up to a maximum of 400 euros”, did not correspond to the wishes of some of the associations of the security forces. security, Chega recalls. , who wants a “comparison” of these supplements to the quest supplement the PC receives. “It is, according to the conviction of the security forces concerned, the only way to repair the injustice that the Government has created between them and the Judicial Police,” argues Chega.
As he had already proposed in the context of the electoral campaign, Chega returns with a measure to prevent immigrants from having access to a series of aid unless they have paid Social Security in Portugal for five years. The party states that immigrants’ access to these rights “is a cause for concern, given the growing migratory flow”, and even maintains that Portugal has become “an immigration destination” for these reasons.
“Whoever arrives here, regardless of whether they have contributed to Social Security for 1 month, 1 year, 10 years, or even having contributed, everyone has the same right,” reads Chega’s proposal, arguing that immigrants “have Firstly, your stay in the country is guaranteed with discounts for a minimum period of 5 years, contributing to the sustainability of the social security institute.” Given this measure, several parties have pointed out that immigrants’ contributions to Social Security have systematically generated a positive balance (this year, until August, the balance between what they deduct and what they receive in social benefits was already 1,818 million euros).
The party also proposes that during the period of validity of the Recovery and Resilience Plan all urban buildings with a heritage value of less than 350 thousand euros be exempt from paying the IMI. “As it is foreseeable that this moment of economic crisis may have consequences over time, the intervention of the State is necessary to guarantee the satisfaction of the basic needs of its citizens, such as housing,” explains the party.
Source: Observadora
