Left Bloc votes down State Budget 2022

The Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) has voted against the State Budget 2022 because the left wing party does not think it has satisfied several proposals it presented to the government.

For example, the party states that there are “still enormous injustices to the Portuguese tax regime”.
It says the positive impact of the creation of tax brackets to ease the burden of the Portuguese lower-middle class is, for example, a lot less than promised in 2018 when negotiating with the party.
“The IRS relief in 2018 represents more than double the IRS reforms which the Government trumpeted”, says its leader Catarina Martins (pictured).
In terms of combating poverty, Bloco de Esquerda stresses that the Government opted for a policy which “lacks ambition and rejects structural alteration”.
On the issue of the health service, the “Government had announced more funding for the Portuguese NHS yet many projects for 2022 repeat promises from previous years”, while it slammed a regime which “does not limit excessive working hours”.
The Left Bloc says that the Government has “refused all of its suggestions or has limited their scope”. “The State Budget does not meet (our goals), fails the country, while its proposals are “watered down”.
Nevertheless, the Left Bloc says it might change its voting intention if the Government shows signs of compromise. “We haven’t got much time left, but there’s still time”, says Catarina Martins.
If the socialist PS government, which does not have a majority in parliament, cannot gain consensus from its collation partners on the benches, it will fall and have to call a general election.