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The Minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, assumed today the role of “minister of everything” in the first sector debate, in which he was asked about topics such as TAP, agriculture, culture and even the vaccination plan.
This model of debates with the Government – one month with the Prime Minister, the next with a sector minister – was approved at the end of the last legislature only by the PS and PSD and replaced the previous fortnightly debates with the Head of Government.
Yes, in the first round of a debate that lasted around three and a half hours, the Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition was asked about areas under his supervision such as support for companies in the context of the pandemic or the moratorium and income benefits, the second round opened time for other questions from the parties, which led Siza Vieira to be called “minister of everything.”
It was in the final stretch of the debate that the sole deputy and leader of the Liberal Initiative, João Cotrim Figueiredo, questioned the minister about his participation in the development of the vaccination plan, “given the strategic importance of health security for tourism.”
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“The vaccination plan was missing, apparently the Minister of Economy has to talk about TAP, agriculture, culture and now only the vaccination plan was missing,” he said ironically.
Siza Vieira ended up answering that he did not intervene in the plan, but expressed all “confidence” in whoever prepared it.
Earlier, it was BE, of the deputy Beatriz Gomes Dias, who questioned the minister about supporting culture, warning that many workers in this sector are “at the bottom of the well.
“In fact, I am the minister of everything …”, Siza Vieira began, before listing some specific support already announced for companies in the cultural sector.
The Minister of Economy took the opportunity to greet an initiative of the PCP to support cultural production, approved in the debate on the State Budgets for 2021, and did the same with the treasury fund proposed by Los Verdes for micro and small entrepreneurs.
Regarding this fund, the minister said that he hopes that the deadline set in the Budget for its creation – end of February – will be met or anticipated, and said that it would have “an interest rate different from zero, but very low,” taking advantage of is currently the interest that finances the Portuguese Republic.
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According to the PAN, the deputy and spokesperson André Silva questioned the minister about the fulfillment of the environmental goals set forth in the Paris Agreement and the absence of environmental counterparts in TAP’s restructuring plan.
“These debates are curious … I am not responsible for the restructuring plan of TAP, nor for the adaptation of agriculture [outra pergunta do PAN]As a member of the Government, I can say that the Government is committed to the objectives of climate action, ”he said.
Siza Vieira added that, at the initiative of the PAN, the parliament even approved a tax on carbon emissions in aviation in the budget debate.
“We are creating more costs for Portugal,” he said.
The reprivatization of Efacec, the development bank or the ‘European bazooka’ were other issues addressed during the second round of the sectoral debate, which ended with few deputies in the room -also due to the limits imposed by the pandemic-, some already standing and talking.
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