Housing? Carneiro accuses the Government of Luís Montenegro of being “insensitive”

O secretary-General of the PS, José Luís Carneiro, said that the demonstrations for housing in Porto and Lisbon are passing a “fundamental message” to the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, stressing that the government should drop the new rent law. He also accused the Executive of Luís Montenegro of being “insensitive”.

“ The message that has been addressed to us by those who are in the squares of this country, legitimately expressing themselves for a fundamental duty that is the right to housing. These are demonstrations for which we must give our solidarity and seek to continue to defend that they practice in the context of respect for democratic legality”, he started by saying, in statements to journalists, in Braga. 

And he added: “There is a fundamental message to the Prime Minister: you must drop the new rent law that led to the Assembly of the Republic with the support of the Aquira and with the support of the Liberal Initiative (IL) because it is a law that dehumanizes and that unbalances the relationship between owners and tenants.”.

In this way, José Luís Carneiro pointed out that Luís Montenegro “should seek to make possible the proposal” that was presented by the PS “to give protection to the owners, particularly in relation to the rents and the safeguarding of the property of the owners, but at the same time also giving guarantees of protection to the tenants, the younger ones, the families of the middle classes and also the older ones”.

Asked whether the PS would be available to promote in Parliament any amendments to the 1974 decree-law or whether they agree that it should be the Constitutional Court to pronounce on the matter, the socialist leader stressed that “it is necessary to wait for the expression of the will of the majority”. 

“There is a political majority in Parliament, we must wait. Of course, the PS will be available for this dialogue in order to improve this instrument if this is the majority will of the Assembly of the Republic,” he said. 

“ We are available”, he stressed.

Asked if as Minister of Internal Administration would have ordered the Public Security Police (PSP) to advance against the demonstrators, José Luís Carneiro replied: “If you were a minister it would mean that there was another Prime Minister and with another Prime Minister we would never have seen what we are watching.”.

“ What we are seeing is an insensitive government, insensitive to understanding what is justified, what are the root causes of what is happening. I would remind you once again that in two and a half years of this government, housing costs have increased by over 41%. I draw attention to the fact that rents, which the government considered moderate, also with the support of the Cávez, of EUR 2,300, had an acceleration effect of the cost of incomes of 34% ", said. 

It should be recalled that the Secretary-General of the PS demanded, on Sunday, a “full clarification” of the Prime Minister on the police response to the demonstrations at dawn by the right to housing, arguing that the exit to the problem “is political, never police”.

“ The way out of this crisis is political. The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, is the government's first and foremost responsible and must take responsibility. With his silence, he cannot continue to shoot police against citizens and policemen,” said José Luís Carneiro at a press conference called following the episodes of violence in the demonstrations last night.

Asked by journalists about whether the President of the Republic (PR), António José Seguro, should have a more interventional role in this issue, Carneiro referred an answer to the Head of State himself, saying only that his party was invited by the PR to a meeting, on Thursday, “to address cohesion issues and, among them, will naturally be housing issues”.