“It’s a disgrace, a complete shamelessness on the part of the prime minister, who has taken upon himself the burdens of the minister’s choices, who has assumed the options of dismantling the National Health Service currently underway, and who now says he will dismiss the minister in December,” stated Paulo Raimundo when confronted with news from the newspaper Observador about the possible departure of Ana Paula Martins from the government next month.
On Monday, it was revealed that Prime Minister Luís Montenegro still has confidence in the Health Minister, but Ana Paula Martins is “tired” and “fed up” with “entrenched interests,” suggesting the possibility of her leaving the government in December after drafting the new Basic Health Law.
“The minister has a role to fulfill. What the prime minister said yesterday was that once the minister completes the dismantling of the National Health Service—especially for us here in the Setúbal Peninsula, when the minister achieves the long-held ambition of centralizing obstetric emergencies in Almada, ending them in Setúbal and Barreiro—after completing those tasks and writing the preamble of the Basic Health Law, then the minister’s role is fulfilled, and she can leave for any hospital administration or other position,” he added.
The communist leader, speaking to Lusa News Agency on the sidelines of a PCP initiative against the new labor package at the Volkswagen automobile factory in Palmela, Setúbal district, indicated that the measures adopted by the current government do not address the problems faced by health service users.
“This does not align with the lives of people, it does not address the issues faced by users, by pregnant women, with the news we unfortunately hear every day, which is a disgrace and a shame,” stated Paulo Raimundo.
“This is mocking, stalling, it’s mocking and giving time to the minister to implement the plan, which is not just the minister’s plan, to be clear. It’s the minister’s plan, the prime minister’s plan, the government’s plan, and the plan of large economic groups that want to turn illness into a business,” emphasized the communist leader.
