“The Socialist Party is a humanist party, a party of well-being, a party of progress. Let the name socialist not instill fear in Madeira,” stated José Luís Carneiro, speaking at the Machico Forum during a rally with regional municipal candidates for the October 12 elections.
“Because I know there are still those who hear the name socialist and think something ominous is coming. No, trust us, because we have proven achievements in improving living conditions, transforming our country and society, and it was indeed through our efforts and the efforts of PS mayors that many developmental achievements have been realized in people’s concrete lives,” he emphasized.
Highlighting housing as a priority, Carneiro mentioned that he recently sent a communication to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, presenting “eight fundamental guidelines to respond to the National Housing Strategy,” and wished to share three of them with the dozens of militants and supporters present in the room.
Firstly, noting that “today, in various regions of the country, there is again the issue of precarious housing construction,” he argued that “there is the capacity in the country, through modular construction, to build housing for a thousand families within 10 to 12 months.”
José Luís Carneiro pointed out that the government must ensure more funding for local housing strategies of municipalities, noting that many of them are underfunded.
“It is also necessary to launch a construction plan that mobilizes all engines of the state,” so that municipalities can provide land and houses can be built at controlled costs, he highlighted.
The “third idea,” he stressed, involves creating “an industrial construction cluster for housing purposes,” explaining that there are currently “national companies that are pioneering and innovative, particularly in modular housing construction,” which in his view will be a paradigm that will “meet various needs worldwide.”
The PS secretary-general assured that the party is willing to “enter this process of industrial construction” and said he presented these ideas because he “was seeing that the government had no capacity to meet this need.”
“The government, apart from delivering the houses we prepared, has not shown the ability to respond to this idea,” he criticized.
At the beginning of his speech, lasting just over 25 minutes, he asked for a minute of silence for socialists who fought for freedom, equality, and social justice, and who have recently passed away.
Before the rally, which was already delayed, the PS secretary-general took a short walk from Machico City Hall, one of the three in the autonomous region governed by the party, to the Forum, accompanied by a group of dozens of people waving flags and chanting PS.
Accompanied by the president of PS/Madeira, Paulo Cafôfo, he passed by cafes and talked with some residents and visitors before reaching Machico Forum for a session where, in addition to himself and Cafôfo, nine municipal candidates spoke.
Before entering the auditorium, he made statements to the media, emphasizing that “power is a public service” and the “Socialist Party candidates in Madeira are especially committed to this primary commitment.”
Moreover, José Luís Carneiro assured that health, housing, education, and culture are priorities of the candidates.
The socialist leader also expressed his solidarity with the prospect of creating a new Regional Finance Law, stating that his party also wants to contribute.
The secretary-general also indicated that in the future, it is necessary to reform the electoral system for municipalities.
For these regional elections, he expressed confidence that the PS would maintain the three municipalities it presides over (Machico, Ponta do Sol, and Porto Moniz) and believes that “there is room for growth.”
