Insurance reprimands parties: “Divergence should be excuse for inaction?”

O President of the Republic, António José Seguro, today called on the parties to put aside the “trico partisan” and focus on finding solutions to people’s problems, particularly in housing and health.

The head of state regretted that what is seen, “often, in the parties it is the pass-blame, it is a party trico game that must be put aside and concentrated in solving people’s concrete problems.”.

“Is it not the responsibility of political parties, of Parliament, of governments, to contribute with solutions together to resolve this situation, especially in an area where no one has the solution of creating houses overnight? We need years and those years go beyond legislatures”, started by saying António José Seguro, in the integrated discourse in the visit to the requalification works of the Afonso Lopes Vieira High School in Leiria.

The Head of State also questioned that if governments change, they do not have “the duty and obligation to agree on solutions that can help the Portuguese, particularly young people, to have such access to housing”.

“ The same in the area of health: is it acceptable for people to want to have and need access to health care and not have it in the right time?”, reinforced.

António José Seguro justified the summons of the parties to the hearings held on Thursday in the palace of Belém, because he considered that “they are essential in democracy”, despite their differences.

“ But should divergence be an excuse for inaction? So you don't act? When I look at the results and see that in Portugal, on average, young people leave their parents’ homes at the age of 30, it is not only the problem of not having a home for themselves, they are delaying their future, their life project, their autonomy”, highlighted.

António José Seguro explained that he is not asking parties to “abdicate being what they are” or to stop “fighting for his ideas”.

“That’s good. What is the duty of the President of the Republic at the moment is to demand that the parties fulfil their function, feel, dialogue and be able to find solutions to solve the problems,” he insisted.

Although the President of the Republic did not rule, António José Seguro argued that the office should be “above the parties” and the head of state should listen and respect “all equal” and “be demanding with the political parties so that they put together solutions to improve people’s lives”.

António José Seguro also challenged the young people to become involved in politics, but “in politics with a great ‘p’, because it is the policy that solves people’s problems, it is not the policy of trica, of the past-guilties, of the constant postponement”.

Otherwise, he added, the country does not come out “of the crooked strain”. “And we have a country to build, to help be better. A country that must grow economically in a sustainable way. And we must find conditions for your talent”, he noted.

For António José Seguro, young people must “have employment opportunities” in the country, reflecting the “level of effort they have made, the qualifications they have obtained and the ability and talent they have” and “this is a collective work of all”.

On Tuesday, the President of the Republic, António José Seguro, called for dialogue on housing “and never violence”, stating that he did not like the images he saw, but awaits the results of investigations on police action on protesters for the right to housing.

The Head of State also called for urgent solutions to housing through dialogue, without resorting to violence.

The next day, António José Seguro received specialists linked to the housing sector in the Palace of Belém, including academics, tenant associations and owners and representatives of the construction sector and public works.