The Bloco de Esquerda coordinator questioned the prime minister this Wednesday whether he was involved in the support given by the Banco do Fomento to the under investigation businessman Mario Ferreira, António Costa denied and considered the question offensive.
This tense moment took place in debates on the state of the nation, in parliament, in a round of questions from the Left Bloc coordinator to the leader of the executive branch, who answered 50 seconds after Katharina’s initial intervention. Martins about five minutes.
“Mario Ferreira, famous for the scandal [das operações] with the ship Atlantida, for cruises on the Douro, for the purchase of TVI, is not only the biggest beneficiary of the support now known from the Banco de Fomento. He receives more than everyone else: 40 million euros of public investment,” said Katarina Martins.
For Bloco de Esquerda coordinator, “everything is strange about this decision” Banco de Fomento, as priority was given to investment in “cruising in the Arctic, which is one of the most sensitive areas to climate change.”
“Priority has been given to a company whose businessman Mario Ferreira is under national and European investigation for money laundering and tax evasion. Priority was given to a company run by a former adviser to the Prime Minister, Diogo Lacerda Machado,” continued Katarina Martins.
Then he left the question: “What role did the Prime Minister have in this decision?”
António Costa replied in this way: “To the insulting question you asked me, my interference is zero. It was equal to zero, as the respected member knows very well.
In her speech, coordinator Bloco de Esquerda protested against the continuity of the multinational Uber practice in Portugal, “a history of economic banditry and manipulation.”
“In 2021, PS has committed to force Uber and other platforms to enter into employment contracts. I remember hearing your promise about this at the end of the PS Congress,” he remarked, speaking directly to António Costa.
Katarina Martins then referred to the “Green Book” appointed by the executive in the previous legislature, to the proposal of a European directive prepared by a socialist MP on the importance of disciplining the practice of these platforms, as well as to the statements made by António Costa in the last elections. campaign.
“But the government just tore up the Green Book and broke everything they promised. On an agenda that’s still called decent work, we don’t know why, Uber should no longer be contracting workers, re-opening the door for the middleman figure.”
In a brief response, the Prime Minister only said that the government’s proposal called the Decent Work Agenda could be improved in Parliament during the specialization phase.
Katarina Martins also criticized management for not responding to rising inflation — “every worker has already lost a month’s wages” — and for the fire and health situation.
“We know that eucalyptus trees and shrubs have grown in abandoned areas since 2017, despite all the promises. As far as health is concerned, the Prime Minister came here to tell us that there will be a law that no one knows about yet and that is unknown. what volume will it have? What we know is that structural investment does not exist,” he said.
He then left a warning to António Coste, saying that he risked repeating the phrase of SDP President Luis Montenegro: “The country is better, the people are not.”
“No, I cannot imagine myself saying anything that the new leader of the PS has said,” the prime minister replied.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
