The president of the PSD party, Luís Montenegro, has defended the Government's immigration and security policy, reaffirming the need for rules on entry into the country to ensure that those who enter legally have decent living conditions.
Luís Montenegro stated that, when he began to talk about the need for security in the vicinity and to establish rules for entry into the country, he was the target of “insults” and called an “extremist” by the opposition, but he considered that ending the expression of interest in entering Portugal was correct and stopped the disorderly flow of immigrants into the country.
For the PSD leader, the proof that the policy followed by the Government he leads is correct is demonstrated in the “recognition, albeit embarrassed”, of the PS and its secretary-general that the option taken by the executive is “on the right line”.
“But we need to remind voters who defined the strategy, who is implementing it, who truly believes in it before the elections, now that there are elections and after the elections, who is always on the same path. And the same can be said about immigration, we were also the target of great insults (…)”, he argued.
Luís Montenegro recalled that, when he said in the last election campaign “that the door cannot be thrown wide open”, but that the door cannot be “closed” either, he was criticised and pointed to the example of the Algarve as a region where the unregulated entry of immigrants was distorting its essence.
“The Algarve is the typical region to explain what the correct immigration policy is. It is the region that cannot have its door open, because if the door is left wide open, it becomes out of control, it becomes completely uncharacteristic, it loses its appeal, it loses its attractiveness, it unbalances the social support that guarantees the attraction of tourists and those who come here return or tell others to come here”, he maintained.
The PSD leader said that the region also “does not want the door closed”, because if “it does not have regulated immigration with the possibility of integrating citizens who come from other countries to help the workforce”, it will be left without the capacity to respond “to be able to have an active, competitive economy”, to take advantage of its “potential”.
“After we stopped expressing interest, the number of requests decreased by between 60 and 80%, depending on the month. Those theorists who said that the decrease in interest had no effect on the call, I think the numbers are enlightening, without any expression of interest, the decrease was huge,” he explained.
The Social Democratic president also regretted that the PS and Chega, parties that have dominated the votes in the region ahead of the PSD, are at “opposites” on immigration and have voted together to reject proposals from the right-wing coalition in government.
Luís Montenegro recalled that the PS has dominated elections in recent years in the Algarve, a region where Chega was the most voted party in the legislative elections 11 months ago, but considered that the region had little benefit from this and called for votes for the AD-PSD/CDS Coalition for the ballot that will elect the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic on May 18.
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