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Prime Minister António Costa said Friday that “he does not intend to ban political activity,” in response to a question about the controversy surrounding the possibility of holding the Festa do Avante when the summer festivals were held. all forbidden In an interview with the Porto Canal broadcast tonight, Costa said that he cannot prohibit parties from participating in political activities, but showed confidence that the parties will cooperate to ensure that their activities comply with all safety rules.
After the announcement of the ban on summer festivals, the PCP was clear in stating that the Festa do Avante “It is not a simple music festival“- leaving the door open for its realization. But Costa assured that, if the party happens, he will have to respect all the rules on social distance and the use of protective equipment.
PCP maintains an open decision on Festa do Avante (which is not a festival). And the government extends the ban (beyond festivals)
“The Festa do Avante, obviously, there is nothing that allows, in the Constitution, in the law or wherever, the prohibition of the exercise of political activities. And each political party is obviously responsible for the way it organizes it, “said Costa. “There is a condition that is essential to guarantee, is that they must respect public health standards, since, in fact, the PCP said that it would respect it. That dialogue must take place, as we are doing with the League and the FPF to allow us to resume the first league events. “
“The political activity of the PCP or any other party is not prohibited, nor does it occur to anyone, to prohibit political activity. These activities must now be carried out in accordance with the rules. For example, in my party, we had the congress scheduled for May, it was postponed sinusoidal dayWe don’t know when we will do it. Everyone knows each other, we have to respect each other and everyone must respect the normal rules, “he added.
The decision is made, only the law is missing: there will be no festivals this summer in Portugal
Even at summer festivals, António Costa pointed out that it was the organizers themselves who called for the ban. “I met with the organizers of the festival and they asked for a ban themselves, because they knew that they could not, in the way they organize themselves, comply with sanitary regulations.“The Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister António Costa also admitted that the country should experience a “deep economic crisis, as we do not recall having had”, at the end of 2021. In the interview, Costa stressed that the Portuguese economy suffered “a total collapse” In less a week, and it will take time to resume the entire economy.
“The economy is not something alien to life. It is part of life. So I have always said that we cannot look at the pandemic without looking at the economy at the same time. We have to deal with everything in an integrated way, “said António Costa, recalling that the government had to do” this extraordinary thing that no one had ever experienced “: isolate the country and send most of the workers to their homes.
“This clearly means that from one week to the next, there was a total collapse of economic activity,” he admitted. Now, it is necessary to gradually resume the national economy: “this week we took the first steps”, but the entire value chain will have to be restored.
“We have to assume and be realistic. We are going to live, this year 2020 and next year 2021 still with a deep economic crisis, since we have no memory of having had it, and in a recovery to be able to resume, I hope that in 2022, the point where we were in 2019 ” Costa said.
When asked who will pay for this crisis, Costa also admitted: “With more community support or less community support, this will be paid for with everyone’s effort. Companies are paying a lot to be closed. Workers are paying a lot because they are losing a significant part of their income, some totally because they have fallen into unemployment, others because they are in a situation of dismissal and they lose a third of their income, others because they are at home with their children. “
For the Prime Minister, this is the time to “create a kind of freezer where we can preserve business, jobs and income at the best possible stage, which is a transition phase, until we can start, step by step, little by little and with great caution, to release activities. “
“We are aware that the support that has been provided to companies, that has been provided to maintain work as the dismissal or that have been given to the income help to mitigate the situation, but does not resolve the situation. The loss of a third of the salary is the loss of a third of the salary. The lower the salary, the more it costs to lose a third“Costa admitted.
The Prime Minister was also asked about the various late payment complaints to companies with workers dismissal They multiplied, but defended the Government and said that the magnitude of the problem prevented the situation from being resolved more quickly.
“The notion of delay is very relative. For those in need, I was late yesterday yesterday, ”said Costa. “Last year, we handled 515 dismissal. From February 2019 to February 2020. In this month and a half, it is about 103 thousand.“
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The prime minister was also asked about next summer, but admitted that he did not yet have a plan to tackle the beach problem. “It is one of the most delicate issues that awaits us,” said António Costa. “I still haven’t found a good formula that I believe in myself,” he added. “I hope that beaches and vacations can exist to allow tourism activity to revive.”
