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António Costa and the government are considering enacting the general lockdown in the first two weeks of December.
The information was advanced by Jornal de Notícias, citing partisan sources, this afternoon when the prime minister listens to parties with parliamentary seats, and was confirmed by the PAN leader when leaving the audience with the prime minister.
André Silva said that the government is considering decreeing general seclusion in the first half of December to preserve the Christmas period, but added that this measure is not safe and requires a state of emergency.
The PAN spokesperson said that the possibility of a general confinement being repeated, as happened in March and April, during the first fortnight of December, in which there are two bridges with the festivities of the Restoration of Independence and the Immaculate Conception, “touched in terms of the end of gradualism, or as a more restrictive measure.”
“In the opinion of the Prime Minister, in his case, this measure seeks to anticipate or predict what could have a great impact at Christmas level, sensitizing people and reducing contacts. It is necessary to arrive at Christmas with the possibility of reuniting the family “, justified.
Rui Rio “on the side of solutions”
Rui Rio, PSD leader, left the audience with the Prime Minister to prepare new measures to combat the pandemic, saying that he will always be on the “side of the solution” and will not be an “obstacle” to what is decided.
Without giving “carte blanche” to the government, Rui Rio hinted that he will support a possible decision by the extraordinary Council of Ministers on Saturday to re-decree the state of emergency.
After meeting with António Costa, at the official residence in São Bento, the PSD leader highlighted the seriousness of the current pandemic situation in the country, much worse than in March and April, but admitted: “There is no need to be afraid because the state of emergency, unfortunately, will not be the same.”
And he briefly explained why it is not possible to move towards general confinement at this time, as in the first phase of the pandemic. “It cannot because of the national economy.”
But to be decreed, it will be so that the government has a “legal framework to make possible decisions” without doubts of unconstitutionality, such as those that arise with restrictions on circulation this weekend and that also raise doubts for Rui Rio.
The Social Democratic president recalled, however, that a precautionary measure is underway, without suspensive effects, which will lead the Administrative Court to rule on the matter in a short time.
“We will always be on the side of the solution and we will never obstruct it,” Rui Rio said, although he acknowledges that he has criticism to face the situation the country has been through. He went to São Bento in precisely that spirit, to make suggestions, which he will formalize in a few days, at an intermediate level. And without specifying them, he admitted that it will be necessary to tighten the mesh of measures in the areas where the situation is most serious.
Rio also admitted that in the future draft constitutional revision that his party will present, which was already planned before the pandemic, it will be “smart” to address this public health issue that was not planned.
This Friday, the prime minister continues to welcome party leaders with parliamentary seats.
Block rejects the state of emergency
The BE coordinator ruled out for now the need for a new state of emergency and argued that the Government should use all the installed capacity in health, if necessary resorting to civil requisitions of the private and social sector.
“I remember that the state of emergency is a last line measure, which lasts for 15 days and that this pandemic will take long months. It is desirable and possible to find other mechanisms to take measures that can protect the population ”, defended Catarina Martins. , at the end of a meeting of almost an hour with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
Alternatively, the BE leader defended that all the “installed sanitary capacity” should be placed within the scope of the Ministry of Health., “private and social, both in response to covid and non-covid” and was available for other measures that have to be approved by the Assembly of the Republic.
“I remember that the state of emergency is a last-line measure, which lasts 15 days and that this pandemic will take long months. It is desirable and possible to find other mechanisms to take measures that can protect the population.”
Asked if the Government should already proceed with a civil requisition, the leader of the blockade defended that the Health Law, previous and current, “already provides that in a pandemic situation” this instrument, which allows a “fair” payment of Service.
“In a civil requisition the service is paid, what concerns us is not only having an installed sanitary capacity, but also being organized, articulated and not managed on a case-by-case basis so that individuals do only what suits them,” he said.
Regarding the measures that the Government will announce on Saturday, Catarina Martins only said that they have two objectives, which she considered “common to all.”
“On the one hand, preserve the health response in a pandemic that continues for months. It has to be possible and effective measures for a prolonged period,” he defended.
On the other hand, Catarina Martins said that the Government has a shorter-term objective and that “it has a reason for being”: “To be able to control these numbers in time so that families have their Christmas gatherings with greater security,” she explained, without more detail.
“In a civil requisition the service is paid, what worries us is not only having an installed sanitary capacity, but also organized, articulated and not managed on a case-by-case basis so that individuals do only what is convenient for them”
The BE leader also insisted that all the implemented measures must be duly explained to the population based on scientific evidence, also expressing the party’s availability to hold extraordinary plenary sessions in the Assembly of the Republic, which are currently suspended by work in the specialty related to the State Budget.
“Eventually we need some legislation in parliament and BE has availability, if necessary, for that legislation. Certainly all parties will consent to extraordinary sessions to approve measures related to the control of the pandemic,” he said.
The BE coordinator also stressed that it is very important to explain to the population that “all casualties or prophylactic isolation” due to covid-19 are paid 100%.
“Let no one stop lowering the isolation for that,” he appealed.
At a meeting attended by the parliamentary leader, Pedro Filipe Soares, and the deputies Jorge Costa and Moisés Ferreira, Catarina Martins was asked if the next State Budget had been discussed -after BE voted against in general- , but assured. that the meeting only dealt with issues related to the pandemic.
PCP asks for “pedagogy”
The general secretary of the PCP defended that the Government should take “proportional” and “pedagogical” measures, warning that a health problem “cannot be transformed into a police case.”
“Exaggerating these measures, thinking that it is solved as a security problem, so that we do not solve the problem. It is this pedagogy so that people understand the meaning and do not easily look for a security measure, that is, the confinement of people , with paralysis of economic activity and the social plan, ”criticized Jerónimo de Sousa, at the end of a meeting of more than an hour with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
The general secretary of the PCP also defended that the measures that the Government will announce on Saturday “are inseparable” from the reinforcement measures of the National Health Service (SNS)., saying he disagrees with a private civil request if it means devaluing the public system.
“Exaggerating these measures, thinking that it is solved as a security problem, so that we do not solve the problem. It is this pedagogy so that people understand the meaning and do not easily look for a security measure, that is, the confinement of people , with all the paralyzes of economic activity and the social plan “
“Let’s not turn a health problem into a police problem,” he appealed.
Jerónimo de Sousa was the third party leader to be received in São Bento, on a day when António Costa listens to the nine parties with parliamentary representation to seek a consensus for the adoption of immediate measures to combat the covid-19 pandemic, which has registered a continuous increase in Portugal.
The Liberal Initiative opposes a nationwide curfew
The president of the Liberal Initiative spoke “head on” to the possibility that the Government decides on Saturday to impose curfews throughout the national territory, considering that it is an “excessive limitation” of individual freedoms.
This position was transmitted by João Cotrim Figueiredo at the end of the meeting with the Prime Minister, António Costa, in São Bento.
According to the sole deputy of the Liberal Initiative, during the meeting, the prime minister “basically divided the measures into two: those that are extensions of what was applied in Lousada, Felgueiras and Paços de Ferreira, with the closure of establishments, curfews and measures” . circulation limitation; and another group that already requires a state of emergency, such as a curfew for the entire territory and for the entire population ”.
In relation to this hypothesis, the Liberal Initiative had the opportunity to say that they are directly opposed, because it is an excessive limitation of individual freedoms and, above all, because there is no basis for applying the same measure to all municipalities in the country. under the assumption that the problem is identical ”, defended João Cotrim Figueiredo.
On this point of curfews, João Cotrim Figueiredo affirmed, however, that the Government has not communicated any proposal regarding the term of application.
Regarding the closure of commercial establishments (restaurants, events or bars), João Cotrim Figueiredo confirmed that this chapter “will be part of the proposals that the Council of Ministers will thank on Saturday, but no specific moments were mentioned when this could happen.” .
The leader of the Liberal Initiative was later very critical of the action of the socialist executive to combat covid-19, saying that the expectation of his party before today’s meeting was that “the statistical and scientific foundations of the decisions that the Government he intends to take Saturday, as well as those he has already taken in more recent times ”.
“But that expectation was frustrated, because there are too many things that have yet to be decided based solely on what other countries are doing, or on the expectation that they can work to effectively control the pandemic. Therefore, it is not possible for the Liberal Initiative to have a reaction of agreement or disagreement in relation to the set of proposed measures, since we cannot measure the proportionality of each one in relation to the problem to be solved ”, he explained.
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