“Portugal needs action” and “lack of awareness”: What the parties say about the government’s package of measures to combat the fires

On Thursday, the government announced 45 measures to mitigate the effects of the fires. Throughout the day, various political parties reacted to the measures and launched harsh criticism of the government.

This Friday, Socialist Party (PS) Secretary-General José Luís Carneiro accused the government of "wasting time on forest management" and sent four questions about the implementation of measures created during the government led by António Costa. "We asked the government four questions, which require an answer. Because it would be good to know why the AD government has been wasting time on forest management," wrote José Luís Carneiro on the social network X.

Speaking to Chega, Congressman Jorge Galveias said that the announced measures "fail to address the essential issue, which is the country's depopulation," and argued that if this issue isn't addressed, fires will continue to "occur year after year." Furthermore, the Chega congressman insisted on the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs.

In turn, in the Liberal Initiative, the party stated that "Portugal doesn't need more promises or postponed plans: it needs action. While the government loses itself in propaganda and administrative blockages, the country remains vulnerable to increasingly violent fires."

"The Liberal Initiative reaffirms its demands: a valued forest, reformed institutions, and consistent prevention and recovery policies. Only then will it be possible to break the cycle of tragedy that every year threatens lives, communities, and the future of our territory," the party emphasized.

On the left, the PCP (Brazilian Communist Party) stated that the government appears to be more concerned with its image than with the population, calling for it to effectively implement the announced support and to promote the careers of firefighters. "The prime minister's statement is a declaration of someone who is more concerned with his own image and the government's image than with addressing the problems affecting the population," said PCP parliamentary leader Paula Santos.

At the Left Bloc, coordinator Mariana Mortágua accused the government of "lack of awareness regarding the distress of people in the fires", adding that the "reaction to the fires, preparation, organization and deployment of resources was delayed".

The JPP responded in a statement, emphasizing the need for support for "those who have lost everything or almost everything." Filipe Sousa stated that "if we don't have the courage to invest in prevention, in a year's time we will once again be counting homes destroyed, jobs lost, and human lives taken by fire."

Criticism of the government continued, and MP Paulo Muacho, from the Livre party, highlighted the government's "reactive stance" regarding the fires. "The government must stop adopting a reactive stance toward this situation. We need to understand what is being done to improve firefighting and prevention, [...] why the government is also delaying convening the National Civil Protection Commission, and we also need to know what is being done on the ground once the fires are extinguished, particularly with regard to emergency soil stabilization," he said.