Political Reentree…and life goes on

Political Reentree …and life goes on

Portugal has been baffled by so many political controversies, shocking political rendezvous, bizarre minister resurrections and, to top it all off, a sparkle of CIA involvement “Portuguese style”. Interesting times!

For those following more closely the dynamics of our Parliament, it will not be a surprise to understand that “life goes on”. No, it is not about Ed Sheeran´s song, our Republic´s President, Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, informed the media that, in spite of having vetoed the “housing package” approved on Parliament mid-August, and Socialist Party representants declared it will be passed again Speedy Gongalez style,  he said life goes on.

Right, we know that, certainly people “keep calm and keep going”, but this veto highlighted concerning issues we do not see our political representants worried about. Having a dominant Socialist Party in our Parliament, meaning a great majority of our voters believed in a single dominant political agenda, should have represented a beacon of hope for the protection of our citizens, tackling the real problems that affect the people. Turns out, Portugal has a decaying health system, schools and universities full of underpaid, unhappy teachers, old and close to retirement civil servants, slow and bureaucratic judicial processes – same old, same old.

Our President, who despite fluctuations in popularity, is still one of the most beloved politicians in recent history, expertly pointed out:

1. Aside from the injection of European Union Funds, Portuguese Government will not assume direct responsibility in the construction of houses.
2. The State will revert most of the housing efforts to Private Sector and allocate State intervention to already flooded with work and understaffed Public Institutions.
3. Coerced rentals with little studied benefits are but a mere political banner.
4. The confusing, complex, and recently contradictory legislation, jurisprudence and doctrine around local accommodation regime makes it doubtful that it will quickly achieve the intended effects.
5. Despite focusing most of the efforts in forcing the Private Sector to house the population in need, this legislation will not promote incentive for those Private Investors to continue to invest in Portugal, because it does not entail any real benefit for them.
6. There are no new measures in sight, with immediate effect, in response to the suffocation of many families in the face of the increases in interest rates and, in numerous situations, in rents.
7. A diagonal political agreement does not exist, therefore citizens do not know what to expect after this legislature ends.

We are in awe, better laugh than cry, really. After these scathing critics, Socialist Party representatives agreed to disagree. I guess Portugal is Europe´s kindergarten now.

We do not think the Private Sector has any incentive, obligation, or duty to provide public assistance, when our citizens pay taxes for that reason alone. We cannot allow the ruling of a socialist party to become a fake Social State.

What we would like to see in this Political Reentree is real effective measures to fight against the increase in cost of life, reduction of salary taxation so that employers can pay better wages, reduction of Personal Income Taxation, affordable housing provided by the State because that is to whom we pay taxes to, better health system, better functioning Courts and happier teachers. It is not asking much.