During today’s biweekly debate in parliament, Inês de Sousa Real, the sole representative of PAN, centered her discourse on the issue of domestic violence, criticizing AD’s rejection and PS’s abstention during the State Budget specialty debate, which blocked victims with pets from accessing shelters.
“Recently, following Minister Leitão Amaro’s remarks concerning António Costa’s wiretaps, there was mention of a Cabinet meeting focused on justice. I ask if you are willing to do the same for domestic violence, holding a dedicated Cabinet meeting to combat and eradicate this scourge,” she challenged.
Inês de Sousa Real further inquired whether Luís Montenegro was willing “to support the proposals PAN” had already brought to parliament to “strengthen this fight.”
“We need to limit the application of sentence suspensions. We cannot have women dying at the hands of violence and continue to turn a blind eye to this national scourge. Meanwhile, Italy has already taken steps to recognize femicide as a crime in the Penal Code,” she noted.
The PAN deputy expressed her surprise upon hearing the Prime Minister “share the indignation” of CDS-PP deputy Paulo Núncio over a television program “that promotes equality and inclusion,” while none of the parties supporting the Government had spoken about the real case unveiled this week of a woman forced to flee her ex-husband.
In response, Montenegro deemed it “completely abusive” to link Paulo Núncio’s question with the domestic violence case.
The Prime Minister highlighted the measures the Government has already initiated in this area and assured that there is a commitment to “continue adopting measures that can prevent, combat the occurrence of further incidents, and also support victims.”
“On July 1st, the new risk assessment checklist came into force, a measure awaiting implementation since 2019. Several training sessions have been conducted, involving 1,736 participants from various criminal police bodies, the National Support Network for Domestic Violence Victims, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services,” he stated.
Representing JPP, sole deputy Filipe Sousa revealed that he had to modify the government’s questioning he prepared this morning after receiving a letter from a citizen of Madeira, which he read in the plenary session, detailing the poverty and hardship his family was facing.
“This is an accurate depiction of a real country, of a real Madeira, because I received this message, unfortunately, from my island. Out of 250,000 residents, more than 60,000 Madeirans are in this social tragedy. These are people who cannot pay their bills and are often forced to make tough choices at the end of each month,” he lamented.
He contrasted this with a recent government visit to Madeira, during which it was claimed that “everything is well, everything is excellently done, so exemplary, so brilliant, worthy of being shown to the country and Europe.”
In reply, Montenegro stated that poverty is a crucial issue, arguing that everyone should “contribute to guiding those in vulnerable situations to receive the support that public entities of Central Administration, Regional Administration, and Local Administration can provide.”
“We will only manage to combat poverty if we create wealth. We must not cease creating wealth to possess the tools that effectively respond to poverty,” he maintained.
