There were more than 10 minutes of debate for each one and, despite moderator João Póvoa Marinheiro’s effort to draw conclusions from Paulo Raimundo, it was clearly Ventura who presented the most proposals from his program.
Who won?
With the iconic phrase: “What study are you based on to say that?”, and even citing the “State of Corruption Study in Portugal”, André Ventura seemed to know what he was talking about with regard to the measures he put in place over the table. Paulo Raimundo responded with vague phrases and accusations from the time of the troika, during which André Ventura was not even a deputy.
Who lost?
Paulo Raimundo. Summarizing in Ventura’s phrase: “The PCP is ideologically blind.” It appears that this continues to be a PCP problem. Focused on old ideas, it does not meet Chega, even on principles that seem similar, such as increasing pensions or combating corruption.
Promises:
Corruption:
It seems like a priority for both of them. However, for the PCP, “the only way to combat corruption is to attack the core of corruption, which is privatizations.” For Chega, “there is corruption in the public sector and in the private sector”.
Ventura then accused Raimundo of not knowing what corruption is: “The PCP is against corruption, but in general, it’s a generic thing that nobody knows what it is.”
Is it enough to want “asset confiscation” to combat corruption? “Our main priority is to be able to reduce what we are losing to corruption by 10%-15% per year”, and, says Ventura, “we do this with a major reform in the area of asset confiscation”.
Pensions:
Chega estimates “an increase in expenditure over six years of 7% compared to this year’s GDP”, but both want increases.
Chega says that it estimates “an increase in expenditure in six years of 7% compared to this year’s GDP”, explaining that “seven to nine billion in this period” are at stake, but progressively.
In this field, Raimundo goes on the attack: “During the dark times of the Troika, André Ventura was applauding”, warning that everything cannot be promised now. “It is for this reason that Chega is obsessed with helping the PSD to continue this program.” Regarding the PCP’s proposals, he says that the party wants 70 euros this year to increase pensions and also intends to restore the retirement age to 65, in what he calls “concrete proposals”.
European Union:
Despite Ventura asking for clarification on this topic “as if he were 10 years old”, Raimundo refused to respond with great clarity. He only said that the country must stop being hostage to “EU impositions”. Not satisfied, Ventura says that Raimundo is not responding because “he is stuck”.
Asked about leaving the Euro, he says: “It’s a flight forward”, he accused.
“You are a master at creating a storm scenario,” he added.
Taxes:
Regarding taxes, the PCP surprised: “We are not against companies”. “Why aren’t the prices of telecommunications and electricity fixed?”, added Raimundo, saying that “the solution is not to tax more, but to ease the burden of production prices”.
“When the weight of salaries is 14%, there are other costs that can be