Artur Lima defends bill to ensure fair retirement age in the Azores - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima, considered today that the opinion of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees of the National Assembly on Draft Law No. 56/XVI/1, which aims to implement the full constitutional right to social security in old age in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, was "frivolous, insulting and ill-founded."

"We strongly disagree with the opinion of the Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees Committee of the National Assembly, an opinion that is frivolous, insulting to the people of the Azores and, indeed, fundamentally flawed," stated the Vice-President of the Regional Government.

“We want to defend the interests of the Azorean people and workers in the Azores, who have the right to retire at the right age,” emphasised Artur Lima.

He added: "We have paid our dues; we will only be fighting for our rights. This is what the Government will do from now on."

During a press conference this morning in Ponta Delgada, the Vice-President stated that the President of the National Assembly and its services had accepted the regional proposal, not considering it unconstitutional, and only making a reference to the Stop Rule, “which could easily be overcome.”

Artur Lima also pointed out that the request for an opinion from the Commission came from the Liberal Initiative, with the "intention of going against the rights of the Azoreans and preventing this proposal from being discussed democratically in the appropriate context, namely in the Plenary Session of the National Assembly."

In this case, and depending on the outcome, it would be possible for the Autonomous Region of the Azores to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

"We fight every day against the centralists of Terreiro do Paço and Mainland Portugal. The Government of the Azores will not give up fighting for the rights of the Azoreans and the rights of workers in the Autonomous Region of the Azores," he reiterated.

The Region's proposal ‘intends to correct the negative discrimination that currently exists,’ and the Constitution "cannot be analysed in a fragmented manner, nor with a centralist and even bias," defended Artur Lima.

The Vice-President of the Government stressed that the "Commission did not take into account several articles of the Constitution, particularly Article 229." It states that the sovereign bodies shall ensure, in cooperation with the self-governing bodies, the economic and social development of the Autonomous Regions, with a view, in particular, to correcting the inequalities arising from remoteness.

"This article makes us a constitutional region with its own government, and therefore different from all other regions in the north, south and centre of Mainland Portugal," he said.

Artur Lima recalled that the Azores are formally recognised as an Outermost Region of the European Union, in accordance with Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. "This Article clearly states that these Regions experience permanent circumstances that justify differentiated treatment, not only economic but also material and social," he said.

"These are not abstractions; they are circumstances affecting the health and future of Azorean workers," he defended. 

“Therefore, advocating for a pension reform scheme tailored to our reality is not asking for privileges, it is demanding that the constitutional principles governing us be also applied here, and ensuring the material equality of Article 13 of the Portuguese Constitution,” concluded the Vice-President of the Regional Government.