“Why do we experience economic prosperity yet pay impoverished wages?” questioned Mariana Mortágua at a rally held tonight at the Instituto Português da Juventude in Leiria. “If fortunes increased by 23% in 2024 and more people are becoming millionaires, why aren’t wages increasing? Why isn’t there a reduction in working hours? Why is there no respect for those working shifts?”
The leader of the BE began her speech by referencing statements made by former Socialist Prime Minister António Costa, who in 2024 celebrated Portugal’s economic growth beyond the European average and employment at its peak. She also referred to claims by the current Social-Democratic leader, Luís Montenegro, who praised the favorable condition of the Portuguese economy.
Mariana Mortágua questioned how fortunes can grow while there is no money to increase salaries. “If the administrator of Pingo Doce can pay himself 2,615 euros per hour excluding profits, why does a cashier at Pingo Doce earn only six euros per hour?” she asked.
The BE leader suggested that this situation is possible because, in the parliament and government, “many defend the owner of Pingo Doce, but few defend the cashiers, the workers, who keep the country running.”
“They call this stability,” she criticized, emphasizing that for the BE, stability is “a horizon that extends beyond the end of the month.”
However, Mortágua noted that on May 18, the vote of Alexandre Soares dos Santos, owner of Pingo Doce, “weighs the same” as that of the cashier earning the national minimum wage.
“On the 18th, the vote of each worker equals the vote of the 50 wealthiest individuals, those who accumulate the fortunes created by workers. It’s only fair to have representatives in parliament who defend the majority of workers who contribute to Portugal’s wealth,” she concluded.
Addressing the profits of Portugal’s economic giants, the BE leader remarked that Novo Banco was rescued with state funds, and its shareholders reaped the benefits effortlessly, distributing dividends among themselves.
“There are still those in Portuguese politics advocating for reduced taxes on the profits of large corporations and banks. Why? Because they allegedly create jobs, salaries… We just saw that the money doesn’t stay within the companies but is handed over to shareholders,” she declared.
Earlier, during a conversation format adopted by the party for this campaign, the BE’s Porto lead candidate, Marisa Matias, took the stage to warn of the impending “freedoms blackout.”
The BE member engaged in dialogue with José Manuel Pureza, a university professor and former BE deputy from the Coimbra district, who criticized liberals for discussing freedom “as if it were an abstraction.”
“This is their strategy to trample on the concrete freedoms of those with less wealth and power,” he criticized.
Pureza recalled the “unfinished struggle” for medically assisted death legislation, which, after being approved by parliament and enacted, was stalled in the Constitutional Court and never regulated.
Marisa Matias paid tribute to João Semedo, the late former BE coordinator and prominent advocate for this legislation, asserting that “with the BE in parliament, this is legislation to be regulated as soon as possible.”
