Presidential candidate António José Seguro this Friday appealed to the government to withdraw the labor proposal and start new talks to achieve the necessary peace and social stability and said that he will be a demanding president with the government and parties.
“I once again appeal to the government to withdraw this proposal and start new conversations in social consultation between businesspeople and workers’ representatives”, challenged the candidate.
In António José Seguro’s opinion, the package presented by the government “violates a democratic principle, because this proposal for labor legislation was not presented to voters in the electoral campaign, and then failed in social consultation”.
“I don’t understand either the opportunity or the need for this labor legislation. We have problems in the country that we have to respond to and one of them is to have a more competitive economy”, he understood.
And in this sense, the proposed labor legislation “does not help” to meet the objectives necessary for a competitive economy, as it “does not correspond” to “combating wage inequality between men and women”, nor does it “prevent young people from emigrating outside of Portugal”.
“So, the question is why? We don’t see the opportunity of a law that also divides the Portuguese when we need to unite the Portuguese and mobilize in response to the country’s specific problems”, he said.
António José Seguro argued that a country “to progress must have political stability, but it also needs social peace” and “the government must have responsibilities to create conditions to create this social peace.
The candidate was speaking to journalists outside the Viseu City Council, after a visit to the president, João Azevedo, winner in the municipal elections on October 12, and the first mayor of the municipality elected by the Socialist Party (PS).
Without wanting to comment on the numbers released, either by the Government or by the trade unions, the candidate for President of the Republic highlighted that what “interests him is a country that needs to grow economically and be more competitive” and that “is the necessary urgency” for Portugal.
Define the design and work towards it
“I want to be a President of the Republic who is demanding with parties and governments to solve the problems of the Portuguese and mobilize the country that has talent, intelligence and the country has to believe again and have a project of hope”, he defended.
And he added: “We have to know what our purpose is and work towards it. That is the role of the President of the Republic. I come to unite people. There is too much division, there is too much hatred and I come to promote hope in our country.”
António José Seguro also considered himself to be an “always positive person” and therefore called for dialogue, “because democracy is dialogue, it cannot be eternal” and “it is necessary to put an end to the iron arms in Portugal and promote a culture of compromise and promote a culture of solutions to problems” in Portugal.
“The country has a diagnosis made, it has solutions, it has proposals. What is missing? There is a lack of leadership. And I, as President of the Republic, want to help create this leadership, this initiative and this firmness”, he assumed.
The candidate highlighted that “there are Portuguese people and thousands of families having difficulty reaching the end of the month, there are people who survive, not live” and that is why the country needs “a more competitive economy to pay people better wages, to lift people out of poverty”.
“We have two million poor people in Portugal. It’s time to stop with politics, with party politics and focus on the essentials; finding solutions to improve the lives of the Portuguese”, he reinforced.