Aboard a train traveling between Sintra and Lisbon during the early hours of the second official day of the municipal election campaign, José Luís Carneiro addressed questions from journalists regarding the new immigration law approved by an agreement between the PSD and Chega, which excluded the PS.
“From my perspective, there was political opportunism in the way the government scheduled this topic around the time of the municipal elections; in other words, they precisely wanted what you are doing,” he replied.
When asked whether the outcome of this dossier represented a weakness for the PS during the election period, the socialist leader stated, “What makes parties strong is having the right priorities” and emphasized, “The PS has the right priorities.”
“Often, schemes are created to manipulate people over issues that are not central,” he criticized.
Carneiro stated that the PS prioritizes labor rights, housing policies, health, wages, and the incomes of people.
The PS Secretary-General reiterated that “all opinion polls” highlight the main concerns of the public as housing, health, income, transport and mobility, quality of space, and a sense of security.
On Tuesday, the Assembly of the Republic approved the new version of the immigration law with favorable votes from the PSD, CDS-PP, Chega, IL, and JPP, while the PS, Livre, PCP, BE, and PAN voted against it.
The new version of the decree, which governs the legal status of entry, stay, exit, and removal of foreigners from national territory, had been previously rejected by the Constitutional Court last August. It was approved in a final global vote after all proposed amendments by the parties were voted on in detail.
In the detailed voting, all amendments proposed by the coalition supporting the government (PSD and CDS-PP) were approved, except for those withdrawn, along with one proposal from the PS and three from Chega.
The PSD and CDS-PP decided to withdraw one proposal regarding the conditions for renewing residency permits under family reunification to approve Chega’s proposal on the same matter.
