The electoral program of the party Chega, under the slogan “Save Portugal,” was unveiled by the party’s president at a hotel in Lisbon, in front of members of parliament and party leaders.
One of the key proposals includes “raising the national minimum wage to 1,000 euros by 2026 and 1,150 euros by 2029, along with creating a support program for companies with operating fixed costs exceeding 30%, to help them manage the increase in wage obligations.”
The current national minimum wage is set at 870 euros.
In its electoral program for the May 18 legislative elections, Chega also suggests “ensuring an increase in the minimum pension.”
“Initially, it should be equal to the value of the Social Support Index (IAS) and, subsequently, to the value of the national minimum wage,” states the document released today, without specifying a timeline.
During the over-hour-long presentation of the electoral program, the president of Chega stated that “this is a challenge.”
“We cannot continue to have the poverty that we witness throughout this country. Poverty among the elderly creates pressure on health services, housing services, it leads to depopulation, desertification, and social destruction,” he asserted.
André Ventura argued that achieving this would be possible “with a realistic macroeconomic scenario, with realistic economic growth, but also with the necessary restructuring of services, realistically.”
“Today, we have an expenditure burden around the State, that unnecessary and superfluous State, which is shocking even by European standards. In agencies that multiply competencies, in observatories, foundations, institutes, and political appointments, we currently face an absolute expenditure scenario that we must start cutting. This will mean less political patronage, but it will also mean less expenditure,” he stated.
