Catarina Martins asserted on Thursday that the government is “disconnected from reality”, responding to remarks made by Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro, who described today’s general strike participation as “insignificant”.
The presidential candidate stated, during a demonstration in Lisbon, that “a government that thinks health is fine is a government that believes the strike is meaningless. It is truly a government completely out of touch with the country’s reality“.
“General strikes are rare in Portugal,” she noted to SIC Notícias, emphasizing that “those who strike lose a day’s pay and often face persecution, as it is a risk for the more precarious workers to go on strike and maintain their jobs”.
“They strike to tell the government we cannot work even more hours for even lower wages in Portugal. Those who strike, who protest, who fight, are engaged in a very solidaristic struggle, a fight for their rights and wages, but also for an economy – because we want a more qualified economy, with real jobs and real wages, not this race to the bottom,” she added.
In her view, “the government must back down”. “The government cannot propose that all generations of workers be worse off. This has nothing to do with the needs of the economy or flexibility. We cannot tell the youth they will have temporary contracts for life, or tell workers they can be suddenly dismissed because of outsourcing, or tell people their bosses can make them work two more hours each day just because,” she said.
“The government must stop insulting people who work and fight for their rights, as they are the ones defending Portugal”, Catarina Martins stressed.
Other presidential candidates include Luís Marques Mendes (supported by the PSD), António José Seguro (supported by the PS), André Ventura (supported by Chega), António Filipe (supported by the PCP), Henrique Gouveia e Melo, João Cotrim Figueiredo (supported by the Liberal Initiative), and Jorge Pinto (supported by Livre), among others.
Presidential candidate Jorge Pinto criticizes the government for not listening to workers, expressing “surprise” at Leitão Amaro’s statements regarding the strike participation.
Tomásia Sousa | 16:11 – 11/12/2025
