António Saraiva of CIP made the comments after an address this week at an event in Vila Nova de Gaia, south of Porto, in which he criticised the government, described the country’s legal minimum salary as low, and announced his decision to stand down as CIP president in 2019.
On Rio’s election, he said it held out hope of agreements between the two largest parties in parliament. “Obviously now there is a different leadership in the PSD, what is expected – and Rui Rio has already made statements to that effect – is that it can give the country the possibility of, in parliament, finding different support [bases] than those that have been found, so that we can all win,” Saraiva said.
He warned that it would “depend on a range of factors” as to whether the governing Socialist Party could find a way of not depending solely on the Left Bloc and Communist Party in votes in parliament, as at present. If it could, though, that would give it “more freedom of action for the policies that it has to develop to make the reforms that the country needs.”
Rio’s election could, Saraiva stressed, make this more likely.
The CIP president said that the “country is doing better” despite initial doubts among business leaders about the Socialists’ deal with the far left. The last two years had, he said, “calmed investment fears”.
However, while the legal minimum salary “is low” there is a need to take into account “the position in which Portuguese companies find themselves” and to introduce “investment-friendly taxation” as well as moves to help companies increase their capital and hire better-qualified workers.