“Considering its importance and urgency, perhaps we should convince ourselves that this matter should not be left solely to the so-called political class, but must involve the entire Azorean society,” stated the former social-democratic leader in an opinion article published today in various newspapers on the island of São Miguel.
“I believe that claims about the revision of the LFR must become the outcry of a People who feel mistreated by the Central Government in financial matters, as if the centralist attitudes, not to say colonialist, regarding marine resources, recently repudiated in this very place, weren’t enough,” he added.
João Bosco Mota Amaral argued that the revision of the Finance Law of the Autonomous Regions is a “very urgent matter and cannot afford further delays,” stating that “due to a lack of public money, admitted by the highest regional officials,” a “climate of no one paying anyone” is settling in.
“The LFR is outdated because the Central Government has expanded public burdens, either through new tasks undertaken or via increased salaries for public service workers, without considering the impact of such decisions on the Autonomous Regions. A revision of resources allocated to the Regional Governments is necessary so that they can fulfill rights guaranteed by the Constitution itself,” he urged.
The veteran social democrat and former president of the Assembly of the Republic lamented that the commitments to resolving the problem are “always postponed,” despite the abundance of principle proclamations.
“Concrete actions and nothing is the same. It’s essential to reflect on the paths taken so far. It seems to me that the [Regional] Government and its president have been left alone trying to convince the Government of the Republic of the need to act as desired, so far without results,” he pointed out.
In the case of the Azores, the former official emphasized that the archipelagic dispersion cannot be ignored, “which leads to higher expenses for essential public services,” such as health, education, transportation, energy, and security.
“It seems that waiting for the ideal occasion to tackle the issue has been the norm, but since it never appears, the solution is postponed, resorting to public debt as an expedient, whether by outsourcing expenses, as was common practice in past times, or by accumulating commercial debts, later converted into financial debt,” he warned.
Mota Amaral advocated for the involvement of Azorean institutions in discussing this topic, highlighting the role of the University of the Azores, but reiterated the call to Azorean society.
“Perhaps that is still not enough, and we have to shake off the apathy that has subdued us and take to the streets, as we once did, to claim our rights as a People,” he concluded.
Last week, during the national state debate, the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, stated that the government was willing to engage in “more intense” dialogue with a view to amending the Finance Law of the Autonomous Regions.
“I even have a Council of Ministers meeting scheduled with the participation of the two presidents of the regional governments precisely to address this and other topics of interest to the autonomous regions,” he announced.
The President of the Regional Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, had previously stated that there was a commitment to work “together” on this matter, after meeting with the Prime Minister.
“I ensured the delivery to the Prime Minister’s office of a vision from the Government of the Azores regarding a work proposal that we, the Governments of the Azores and Madeira, commissioned from Professor Eduardo Paz Ferreira for a broader revision of the Finance Law [of the Autonomous Regions],” he disclosed.
