gedscottish

My wife is a public worker and apparently we should be happy as the wages she has had frozen will now go up! However along with all these other promises... How the f#ck are they going to pay for it all?

Red Eric

I think I can see why you think politicians don't deliver on their promises.

If you can find me a reference to any politician promising an end to tolls on the motorway(s), I'd be extremely surprised. Staggered, in fact.

Less surprising, indeed eminently possible, would be a call for the matter to be debated in Parliament.

EMR

It is the tolls on the A22, the Algarve motorway plus a reduction in iva in restaurants and bars that the Algarve is expecting the Socialists to act on.
Local issues of great importance here.

Red Eric

With regard to what is locally regarded as important to the more vocal elements of society , I'm sure you're probably right, EMR - and in the case of the IVA reduction on restaurants, bars, cafés etc that's one of the proposed measures both in the original and in the amended PS programmes (and one I fully expect to be enacted should Costa be appointed PM).

But your original claim was that Algarvians are looking forward to the promised end of tolls on the motorway, !????, which you are trying to present as an election pledge that ought to be honoured. It wasn't. And you're beginning to sound very much like one of those imaginary politicians of yours - ie saying one thing and subsequently changing your mind. Try to focus on what is actually said, otherwise we'll end up having a never-ending discussion about how the next government made empty promises, just like all the other leftist idealist socialist governments of all time ever have and ever will.

The truth please EMR. I will continue to help you to discover it as long as you continue to seek it.

EMR

I will admit to referring to the expectations of locals both Portuguese and expats across the Algarve.
Campaigns that have been going on for years against the tolls.
The local english language press carries comment on this very subject.
These are local issues not national but the Algarve swing to the socialists was significant as far as the final result of the election.
If iva is not reduced and the tolls fiasco not resolved then it will be the socialists who will pay the price.
The Algarve has long felt ignored by Lisbon being just a convenient source of tax revenue from tourism.
The new government if it has the chance and keeps its promises can change that.

Red Eric

You are confusing official national policy with pledges made at a local level, which only carry weight insofar as getting matters discussed in parliament. Your local Socialist MPs have said they will lobby for a reduction (note reduction, not elimination) of the tolls, working towards an eventual elimination.

That is a far, far cry from saying that an immediate end to the tolls was promised or even that it will be done within the lifetime of the next parliament. The Algarve Socialists will fulfil their promise to get the matter raised and I expect that the charges will be reviewed and alterations may be made. However, tolls are levied on plenty of other roads besides the A22 and any adjustments will have to be across the board. Remember, these are not directly government-levied tolls - they are the subject of contracts between the various concessionnaires and the government. Those contracts will need to be renogiated and it will therefore take time.

The reduction of IVA on restaurants, bars, cafés etc, on the other hand, has for some while been a matter of national policy and there is now a firm pledge to lower it to 13% from the current 23%, so that will be done (I'm presuming in the first budget ie taking effect 1st Jan 2016).

EMR

It was local votes that got the socialists to where they are today.
If the electorate finds that they are no different from the coalition then their time in government will be limited to one term max.
Regarding Iva it is very easy to say one thing in opposition before your discover the true state of the countries finances. The reduction in iva could be the first casualty when reality dawns.

Red Eric

I will get back to you when it has been done - it won't be long.

Useful to have your input about accuracy of the now ex government's figures. I shall remind you of that as well when a suitable occasion arises.

EMR

I hope you are right as does every Portuguese we know.

Red Eric

Not been wrong yet on this thread. In fact, on the occasion of my most recently confirmed prediction, the result of the rejection motion, one bystander was heard to remark

Ingles

Cavaco Silva's Political Choices

As alternativas de Cavaco Silva para a crise política | Económico

p.s. On this mornings TV News ,it was stated that the Toll Fee's will not be increased in 2016 !

EMR

Its at least reduction or removal that is expected in the Algarve.

macliam

I have to say I find it amusing that a president and Government who are so pro-Europe completely ignored direction from Brussels that the registration process for foreign vehicles is anti-competitive and raising tolls on the Via do Infante and other SCUTs is illegal. Selective deafness, it appears.

On the latter, at least there is a campaign to revert the A22 to toll-free - due to the number of Spanish visitors and expats living in the Algarve. In the North, the "old" IP5 was converted to a SCUT, so is now a toll road. This is the only main road for my father-in-law to get to either Aveiro or Viseu for hospital appointments, etc. - no N125-equivalent there, just back roads. No big outcry either......

Red Eric

A frequently-made claim but completely untrue, I'm afraid.

Red Eric

You know, for someone who uses the word "reality" so frequently, you're doing a mighty fine impression of someone who's lost touch with it completely.

Just because you and your mates have got it into your bonces that you want a toll-free Algarve for Christmas, doesn't make it Socialist Party policy, nor a promise they made in order to get elected. The electoral programme which Ingles posted a link to earlier on the thread contains not one mention of reducing or eliminating toll fees on the A22 or any of the other ex-SCUTs, so we're going to have to wait and see whether it is a matter which will see the light of day while they're in office or not. But one thing's for sure - when their term is at its end, no-one will be able to say, whatever has happened, that they didn't keep a promise on that front.

In terms of deciding whether they deliver on their pledges, you have to know what those are and measure accordingly, not on the basis of your hopes and expectations.