During the presentation of the book ‘Public-Social Partnerships: the case of (de)nationalized Hospitals’ by Nuno Reis, provider of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Barcelos, Passos Coelho emphasized that his criticism regarding the “enormous mismanagement of public expenditure in healthcare” was not directed at any specific political figure or government, noting that this issue has persisted for several years.
Later on, addressing a “severe management problem in healthcare,” he issued a warning: “Let’s see who has the strength, authority, and wisdom to solve it,” he said, cautioning that issues in the sector cannot be resolved through “revolutions” or against professionals.
“This can only be done within a broader social and political contract, with some stability. And that stability depends on people’s perception of the relevance of these policies,” he stated.
According to Passos Coelho, this stability does not solely arise “from the power of the parliament.”
“A government can be in the minority and still possess ample societal support to implement a reform that people recognize as necessary. Clearly, if governments shy away from clarifying this, garnering public support becomes challenging,” he admitted.
The former prime minister argued that “it is necessary to mobilize and convince people that these policies are truly important,” which does not rely “on momentary political strength.”
“It depends on a certain moral strength, evidently, but mainly on our ability to win over people for the changes we want to make. But for that, we must be clear about what we want and test it,” he warned.
Additionally, he stated the need for “political will” to implement changes, criticizing a certain way of governance without specifying targets.
“‘Kick the ball forward and then we’ll see. The important thing is to keep moving. Later, we’ll figure out how to proceed.’ That’s one way to govern. I wouldn’t recommend it, at least not as a system. Not to say that sometimes a nudge isn’t necessary to move forward, and then we’ll see. But as a method, it doesn’t seem advisable,” he asserted.
Upon leaving, Passos Coelho declined to make statements to the media, in a session attended by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
