Government bets on ten priorities

The government program of the second government of AD led by Luís Montenegro was approved by the Council of Ministers this Thursday and will be discussed and voted next week in Parliament.
After deciding to add a state reform ministry to the governing cast, the message of a reformist executive is reinforced in the program that will be discussed next Tuesday and Wednesday in São Bento.

Opening the document that includes proposals for the various sectoral areas of governance, a chapter entitled Transforming Agenda, highlights. It is in the ten points listed in this chapter that Montenegro bets to give the government a reformist impulse that, despite being a minority, has the call « Major majority » which can guarantee you greater longevity and even dream of a four -year legislature.

With a guaranteed passage in Parliament (arrival and PS have already given guarantees of viability), the executive has a free way to rule at least two years, given the compulsory legislative deadlines in the final of the presidential term.

It is with this horizon that the Prime Minister defines the priorities of his new government, seeking to respond to topics that have been identified as those that cause greater dissatisfaction in the electorate. Among the priorities are some of the arrival flags such as security and immigration.

Outside the priorities is the constitutional revision that has been at the center of political discussion after the May elections, as the results at the polls allow for the first time to reach a majority of two thirds in Parliament without the PS votes. Montenegro had already signaled that this was not a priority for the immediate, calming the mood among the socialists. But the theme of the constitutional revision should not be left out in the debate of the government program. André Ventura has already ready a proposal to review the fundamental law will want to bring the discussion to the debate to achieve the goal of saying that AD is betraying the right -wing electorate and wasting a unique opportunity to introduce changes in a text that he considers to be impeding change in the country.

The 10 priorities of Montenegro

The first bet listed in the document that the government approved speaks of income policy. In order to improve the living conditions of the Portuguese, the government promises to continue to lower taxes to companies and people, but also promises changes in the tax regime and labor legislation.

State reform focused on bureaucracy arises secondly in the priority hierarchy of the new government. Gonçalo Matias is the man chosen to do so.

Accelerating and qualifying the economy is another of the flags that the government gives priority. Montenegro has been living the idea that without economic growth it is not possible to improve salaries and now assumes it as one of the first priorities for governance.

The bet on regulation and control of immigration also arises, of course, in the priorities of the transforming agenda. Leitão Amaro, who remains the minister responsible for the area, promises a controlled and humanist immigration, reinforcing entry control and with the revision of the Family Current Law, to prevent the country from having to open doors to new immigrants, unable to welcome them.

Health and education to work are a renewed promise on the program that will be debated next week. Here too the proposed solution has no news, the idea is to reinforce the complementarity of systems using social and private sectors.

Among the ten priorities are the reinforcement of security, with more police on the street. The faster justice, although it is not talked about reform of the sector. And the fight against corruption.

Also in the housing sector there are no new proposals, only the reinforcement of the promise that more public housing will be built, facilitating the construction of the private and cooperative sector and the support for lease will be reinforced.

The objective of privatizing TAP is among the priorities, along with the construction of the new Lisbon Airport and the bet on the railroad and TGV.

The Água that unites, launched in the previous government, is back in the priority objective for «Safeguard the future» .

Lastly in the ten priorities of the program comes the theme of the defense. A strategic reinforcement plan for defense investment is announced. The goal had already been announced in the inauguration speech of Luís Montenegro, who proposed to start talks with the Leads of the arrival and PS to anticipate the goal of 2% of GDP in defense investment by the end of this year. The objective is to be able to tell NATO partners that they will meet later this month (June 24-26 in The Hague), that Portugal is doing its part with regard to the increase with the expenses in defense. The theme has raised fears that this investment will dictate cuts in social expense, but the government guarantees that this will not happen. So far, arrives and PS are available for understandings with Montenegro.