Portugal's Socialists gather today with the cost of living at the top of the pile
The PS meets its National Commission this Monday and opens parliamentary days on the cost of living, with leader Carneiro asking for more time on university applications.
A working Monday for Portugal’s Socialists. The PS gathers its National Commission in Lisbon today and simultaneously kicks off parliamentary days devoted to the rising cost of living in the Lisbon metropolitan area — the theme José Luís Carneiro’s leadership has picked to set the summer’s political agenda.
What is the PS National Commission discussing?
Opposition strategy, essentially. Carneiro has been hammering the line that only the Socialists are a real alternative to the PSD/CDS-PP government, and the party wants to keep the argument on the economy — housing, pensions, health and, above all, the prices that keep squeezing households. The parliamentary days in greater Lisbon are designed to put MPs on the ground, from supermarkets to health centres, and turn everyday complaints into parliamentary ammunition. Official positions and the calendar appear on the PS website.
What is the PS asking on university applications?
More time. Over the weekend, Carneiro argued the government should consider extending the first-phase application window — which opened this very day — given the instability created by exam grades being sent to schools with errors. He also called for a meeting between the prime minister and the Council of Rectors. With thousands of families currently doing entrance-average arithmetic at the kitchen table, it is an argument built to travel.
The government, for its part, starts the week still managing the wake of the state-of-the-nation debate. Between exam averages and supermarket receipts, the political summer is promising everything except a holiday.
Image: PES Group Committee of the Regions / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
