“Here, the appeal we make to the President of the Republic is for a political veto due to a deep divergence on what is a development path for the country: the country will only have harmonious development if it knows how to value those who work,” stated Rui Tavares in Lagos, Faro district.
The Livre party deputy spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a party action in Lagos on the first official day of the campaign for the local elections on October 12. Meanwhile, the parliament debated a new version of a bill aiming to amend the immigration law, approved with favorable votes from PSD, CDS-PP, Chega, IL, and JPP.
In Rui Tavares’s view, the government, through a “hidden agreement showing its backside” with Chega, is harming immigrants who work, contribute to the social security system, and support the budget surplus that the government presents to the country.
“At this moment there is only a ‘surplus’, only beautiful accounts are presented in Brussels because of the social security surplus. More than half of this surplus is from immigrant contributions,” he emphasized.
According to Rui Tavares, the issue lies in what “will be negotiated from now on” between the government and Chega, a party advocating that immigrants must have at least five years of social security contributions before accessing support.
“This is where I believe new unconstitutionality will arise. We are about to witness another shadow game where Chega pulls one way, and the government the other, but the direction is this: fewer rights for those who work,” he warned, noting that the government “will not stop with immigrants.”
When questioned about the statements by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro on Monday in Amadora, where he stated that immigrants are “the greatest defenders” of government policy in this matter, Rui Tavares said he did not know anyone who “working and contributing to social security does not want access to these supports.”
“We need to understand that immigrants are people like anyone else, they have flaws, they have qualities, they are not angels, they are not demons, but above all, they are not work tools, they are not appliances, they do not switch off at the end of the workday and then ‘go back to the shelf,'” he cautioned.
For the Livre spokesperson, the new version “is a shot in the foot for the economy and social cohesion” and will encourage more illegal work in the country, arguing that immigrants will have no incentive to contribute to social security.
Rui Tavares insisted on the idea that PSD, CDS, Chega, and IL are united in a front against workers, starting with immigrants and continuing with public employees, saying “they were all together during Pedro Passos Coelho’s time and the ‘troika’.”
In Lagos, Livre presents its own list led by professor Maria João Sacadura, who in the last local elections headed the list for PAN, and this morning accompanied Tavares on a visit to the Creative Activities Laboratory – a former prison converted into a refugee reception center and today a creative hub similar to the “houses of creation” the party wants to spread across the country.
Afterwards, the visit continued to the Lagos volunteer fire station, which recently combated the Aljezur fires that also reached the border of this municipality.
The commander, Márcio Regino, in conversation with Rui Tavares, requested prioritization of classifying the firefighter profession as fast-wearing, one of the proposals defended by Livre and repeatedly debated in parliament.
Maria João Sacadura faces known opponents in the local election race in Lagos, including the current mayor Hugo Pereira (PS), Luís Barroso (“Lagos Com Futuro” – Nós, Cidadãos!/PAN), Alexandre Nunes (CDU), Paulo Rosário (Chega), and Gilberto Viegas (PSD/CDS-PP).
[Updated at 14:23]
