The Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, responded on Tuesday, September 15, to criticism made by Pedro Passos Coelho against the Government of Luís Montenegro. In an interview with Antena 1, the official rejected the accusations of the former prime minister, stating that the executive is every day solving problems that have existed for many years and were left unresolved.
Pedro Passos Coelho had written the preface to the book "Portugal na paz dos bloqueios," where he wrote that the time for reforms by the Government is "running out." Maria da Graça Carvalho responded by attributing part of the problems to the taxes imposed by the troika and the subsequent governments that had parliamentary support that did not allow flexibility to solve the problems.
The minister praised the leadership of Luís Montenegro, stating that he is a great prime minister, and gave the example of the Environment minister in Passos's Government, Jorge Moreira da Silva, today Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, saying that if he did not do more it was due to constraints.
On practical matters, Maria da Graça Carvalho stated that fixing fuel prices should only be done "as a last resort" and that the discount on the Excise Tax on Petroleum Products will reach 1.3 billion euros by the end of the year. Regarding the State's entry into REN, the minister said it is "all a matter of national security," without commenting on the increase in participation from 14% to 20%.
