“It seems that there was, I would say, a ‘fireworks’, about whether or not the measure was to be implemented, whether or not it was to move forward. Of course, it is to move forward. A measure approved in the Assembly [of the Republic], promulgated by the President of the Republic, has only one path: it is to be applied, and applied in the lives of all of us”, stated Paulo Raimundo.

Speaking at a dinner rally in Silves, in the district of Faro, the leader of the PCP pointed out that the measure “falls far short of what is necessary, falls far short of what is needed, falls far short of what is possible”.

“It is short, it is insufficient, we could and should have gone further. If the PCP proposal had been approved, we would be better off today, but that is not what happened. This was the proposal that was approved, and this is the one that must be implemented”, reinforced Paulo Raimundo.

The communist leader pointed out that its implementation by the Government “is not a problem of lack of means, it is not a problem of lack of resources, it is only a problem of will and political choice”.

The Government “that says there is no money for the IRS”, he continued, “is the same Government that is willing to hand over, in the first four years of this measure, 4.5 billion euros in IRC to Galp, EDP, Jerónimo Martins, Continente”.

“For those, there is always money, for those there are never any difficulties, for those there is never any problem of getting the accounts right or of unsustainability”, he stressed.

Paulo Raimundo joked that the Government “has the merit of doing a lot, very quickly”, but “only in the right way for the objectives of a few” and for “a handful of people from economic groups and the richest”.