Prime minister pips president to post in marking turn of year
The Prime Minister’s New Year message repeats the word ‘investment’ and emphasises the need to save the welfare state.
“The key words are investment, investment, investment. Realise public investment. Stimulating domestic, private and business investment. Attracting foreign investment that seeks predictability and security”, he wrote in an article published in Jornal de Notícias.
Mr Montenegro pipped president Marcelo to the post by publishing his New Year’s message before that of the President of the Republic.
Entitled ‘Portugal on the move’, the PM stressed that only with more investment will Portugal be able to “continue to save the welfare state – with concrete and constructive actions, not with empty words, blocks or fear of change”.
Investment, the head of government argues, is essential if the country is to have “hope for the future”. Investment in three areas: public, internal (private and business) and external investment.
This is how Portugal will be “a renewed country, fairer, freer, more democratic, more tolerant, more competitive, with more wealth”.
For 2025, the Prime Minister guarantees “a renewal of policies, objectives, energy and commitment”.
“We are determined to prove that it is possible to have lower taxes and better salaries and pensions as the centrepiece of a new economic and social policy that brings more justice and progress for all”, he said, adding: “We will continue to combat bureaucracy in government agencies and services, and to focus on digitalisation and proximity to citizens.
“We will continue to promote regulated immigration, neither behind closed doors nor wide open, welcoming and integrating with dignity and humanity those who choose Portugal to live and work.
“We will continue to invest in public housing – the largest investment since the 1990s – and to encourage the construction of houses at moderate prices, whether for purchase or rent.
“We will continue to safeguard security as one of the country’s greatest assets, combating violent crime, drug trafficking, but also corruption and economic crime”.
Stressing the context of ‘global interdependence’, Luís Montenegro warned of the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the political and economic crises in France and Germany. But he said, as he has said previously, that he believes in the “stability and opportunities” that exist in Portugal.
After mentioning several measures taken by the Government since it took office in April 2024, Montenegro stated that, in 2025, the executive will “continue to stand by all people, especially the most vulnerable, lonely and unprotected”.
“On January 1st, which is also World Peace Day, it is also important to remember that peace begins within the four walls of every home, which should be the safest place in the world, where violence, especially against women and children, must be firmly combated to be eradicated”, he argues, also valuing “the stability and opportunities that Portugal has to offer its citizens and the world”, in the international scenario.
Sources: ZAP/ LUSA
