In her inaugural address as the new leader of IL at the party’s X National Convention in Alcobaça, Leiria, Mariana Leitão criticized the government during the debate on the state of the nation in the Assembly of the Republic on Thursday, claiming that “the much-promised change has proven to be nothing more than ‘political marketing’.”
“Prime Minister Luís Montenegro once again emphasized that the AD, on its own, will not be capable of bringing any reforms or change to the country,” she stated.
According to Mariana Leitão, “the time for serious changes and reformist ambition is now, not at the end of the legislative period when efforts to change the country should begin.”
“The time for bold proposals is now and, so far, nothing has been seen. The so-called tax relief amounts to four euros a month. Meanwhile, there is no hesitation in spending 400 million euros on extraordinary expenses for electoral purposes,” she criticized, referring to the proposal for an extraordinary supplement for pensioners approved on Friday by the Council of Ministers.
The new IL leader further accused the AD of privatizing TAP according to “the needs of Pedro Nuno Santos’ PS,” continuing with “the grand promise of healthcare changes that never arrived,” and, in housing policies, providing “only incentives for demand with no incentive for construction.”
“The prime minister presented a set of measures that seem directly from the PS’s playbook: subsidies, various checks, vague promises of public investment, anything but structural reforms, anything but political courage,” she alleged.
Leitão argued, “this is a copy of the model already followed by António Costa.”
“And it is time for Luís Montenegro to decide if he wants to be António Costa,” she challenged.
Nonetheless, the IL leader noted that, so far, there have been “terrible signs from a government that, just a year ago, claimed it was going to change” and that at that time did not have a majority but has now “strengthened it.”
“And yet, it seems that nothing has changed. This is the state of the nation: a country exhausted from paying so much and receiving so little, and a government behaving as if it has governed for ten years,” she accused.
Afterward, Mariana Leitão acknowledged Montenegro’s right when he “says he wants to govern in the center,” but warned that “the more the center becomes synonymous with inaction, the more strength extremist solutions will gain.”
“If more and more moderates are being defeated around the world, it’s because many have crossed their arms and insisted on aimless stability. As long as the Portuguese do not see a direction, a path to a better country, they will continue to lean more toward extremism,” she said.
In this context, Mariana Leitão asserted that IL represents a “true alternative” and must “restore the country’s confidence.”
“We are not here just to disagree with others. We are here because we have an alternative vision for the country,” she stated, adding that the Portuguese expect “more than criticism” from IL.
“They expect vision, courage, a true alternative. That’s what we will deliver,” she promised.
