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This Friday, Parliament approved the renewal of the state of emergency for another 15 days, at least until December 23 (but with the warning that the President of the Republic intends to extend this exceptional state “at least” until January 7). . Despite the criticism of all the parliamentary benches (with the exception of the PS) to the Government’s strategies in the application of restrictive measures and the use of the state of emergency, the vote on this decree did not bring anything new: all the parties voted the same way they had. voted on the old renovation. PS, PSD and the unregistered deputy voted in favor of renewing the state of emergency, while BE, PAN, CDS and the unregistered deputy Joacine Katar Moreira abstained. Only the deputies of the PCP, the ENP, Chega and the Liberal Initiative voted against.
Although the declaration of the state of exception, under the terms of the law, is only valid for 15 days, “in the decree of the President of the Republic a commitment to stability is established, with a view to extending it until January 7, including the Christmas period and New Year’s Eve ”, highlighted the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita. “The government is then authorized to take appropriate and balanced measures that signal the continuation of this collective effort,” he added.
“We must realize that we are at a decisive moment. We have to mobilize all our efforts, as in that most difficult phase of a marathon in which the hope of reaching the goal begins to be within reach. But it is also a phase in which difficulties can sometimes lead to weakness ”, Cabrita warned.
The state of emergency “is not a tool”
But the justification did not convince all the deputies. For the ENP, which voted against, Mariana Silva defended that it is not with the state of emergency that the spread of the virus is stopped. “As long as the Portuguese continue to look at the recommendations of the public powers with full responsibility, the Government will continue to have, within the usual framework”, the means necessary for its action, believes the deputy.
In turn, the ENP insisted that the answers must lie in what remains to be done to guarantee the safety of those who cannot stay at home, underlining the overcrowding of public transport, where the shortage of supply causes agglomerations of users and does not allow keep distance. of security. “Transportation is still crowded, despite the fact that the report on the impacts of the state of emergency says they have been sporadic and punctual,” said Mariana Silva. The ENP also regretted that there was no information in the report on the effects of the measures on mental health, “especially on young people.”
The parliamentary leader of the PAN, Inês Sousa Real, argued that it is not possible to demand measures and confinement of the Portuguese “and to have countercyclical actions that contradict what is requested,” he says. Without mentioning parties or movements, Inês Sousa Real addressed the “risk that this pandemic will weaken democracy” to recall that “the democratic rule of law is not guaranteed only at rallies, congresses or similar.”
CDS fears that government administration with the vaccine “will fail like a flu”
For the CDS, João Almeida, criticized the restriction of freedoms “unbalanced and that moved to the weekend and family life and fair rest that people are entitled to a negative charge that had at first a statistical justification that turned out to be denied ”. The deputy considered that the choice of measures applied over the weekend “remained without explanation”, despite the economic losses of the decision. The centrist also criticized the government’s “confused” communication: “At one point, with so many exceptions, no one knew what the rule was.” “Let’s see if the covid-19 vaccine does not fail as it did with the flu vaccine. ”He declared.
In response, Eduardo Cabrita would tell the CDS that “the measures are the least restrictive of all the European countries that surround us” and that “they respond to what is decisive, because without limiting contacts, the increase in infections cannot be stopped”.
João Oliveira, from the PCP, also criticized that the report presented to the Assembly of the Republic on the effects of the state of emergency on the population does not clarify “the doubts that already existed about the effectiveness of the restrictive measures.” “The report does not reflect the expansion of the economic and social impacts of the restrictive measures to their full extent,” he says. In addition, in the health area “nothing that has been reflected in this state of emergency report required a declaration of a state of emergency,” he added.
For the Bloco de Esquerda, Moisés Ferreira recalled that the approval of the state of emergency “gave the Government additional tools to face the pandemic in its various consequences” and asks if the Government “made use or not of these tools – used them or not well “”. And “in the private sector, the Government has always preferred the purchase of services at thousands of euros a day, instead of integrating the necessary resources under the management of the SNS”, when “it had all the support to do so.”
Representative André Neves spoke on behalf of the PSD, which also approved this state of emergency. The Social Democrat criticized the lack of planning and prevention for the second wave. “Planning and prevention save lives and save jobs,” he summarized. “When the bazooka arrives, hopefully it is not too late,” he concluded.
This Saturday, the Government meets in the Council of Ministers to discuss and announce the measures that should be in force during the festive season, including Christmas and the New Year.
