Montenegro promises to discuss health and asks PSD/CDS-PP to reject “politician-speak”

The Prime Minister promised to address health issues in the State of the Nation debate today, and asked the PSD and CDS-PP to focus on discussing solving the problems of "the Portuguese people" and not "politicians."

At the end of the PSD/CDS-PP parliamentary session in Évora, Luís Montenegro dedicated part of his speech to the last political debate in parliament, which will take place on Thursday, with his presence and that of the entire Government.

"Let's focus on discussing what is our commitment to the Portuguese people and what truly matters in their lives. The Portuguese aren't very interested in knowing who's chasing whom, who's talking to whom on what day, or whether the debate is more about this or that," he stated.

The PSD president also argued that people "want to have a job opportunity, they want to have an opportunity for career progression, they want to have a response from the National Health Service" (SNS), assuring that he will not shy away from this issue, nor from structural problems or specific negative cases.

"We'll be there during the state of the nation debate to represent the health policy we're developing (...) We're not indifferent to the cases, but the country can't live in the agony of these cases alone when it has thousands of successful cases at the same time. The country must also recognize that the NHS—let's be clear—responds well in most cases," he argued.

Montenegro said he had “neither a pink, nor an orange, nor a blue or yellow outlook on the National Health Service,” referring to the colors of the PSD and CDS-PP.

"Sometimes, watching political debates feels like there hasn't been an election campaign in two or three months. Many of those who are participating in public spaces aren't saying the same things they used to; they're simply focused on a kind of language typical of political debate, commonly called politiquês," he criticized.

In contrast, he asked the PSD/CDS-PP majority to focus “on the language of the Portuguese people”.

"We need to solve the problem of immigrants; we need to solve the problem of immigrants; we need to solve the problem of street safety; we need to solve the constraints of the NHS; let's focus on solving the problems of the NHS's constraints," he said, among other examples.

At the end of his speech, Montenegro also reiterated the priority this Government gives to State reform.

"In all Councils of Ministers, ministers are urged to implement the spirit of state reform, and to promote, with their respective services, processes of simplification, digitalization, and the elimination of redundant procedures," he stated.

The PSD leader anticipated that the government's structure will demonstrate that "the Prime Minister, through his deputy minister and the State reform, wants to have direct intervention in all public bodies to be able to change their management style, their relationship with citizens and businesses."

"To be able to once and for all put an end to this torture that is often the dialogue between citizens and the administration, between companies and the administration," he stated.