Eduardo Almeida was elected president of JSD Algarve at the most recent congress of this party structure, which took place at the end of July, in Loulé.
The JSD leader until recently/Faro and current director of the Academic Association of the University of Algarve, of which he was also president, gave the Sul Informação the first big interview, after his election.
The leader of the Algarve's social-democratic youth guaranteed that he will challenge the Government's measures when he does not agree with them, although he warns that he will not do so in the public square.
Unemployment among young people, as well as education and the fight against interiority are some of the priority areas of intervention chosen by the new direction of JSD/Algarve.
Sul Informação – Take the lead in times of crisis. What proposals do you have for a region that is being heavily affected by the crisis like the Algarve?
Eduardo Almeida – Firstly, the fact that we are the Government currently will not prevent JSD from criticizing or advising the Government. And this will be one of our great banners. JSD, throughout its life, and Passos Coelho knows this well because, at various times, it has also been against a PSD Government [at the time Passos Coelho was the national leader of the Social-Democratic Youth], it always had its irreverence and we want to continue to have it. And, unlike other political structures, we are not lambs.
In other words, if we do not agree with certain measures, we will challenge them, not in the street, but in our own headquarters. The JSD itself at the national level has done this. An example is the subject of Civic Participation, which the Government wanted to finish. In this sense, we are going to do our work, always in collaboration with the Government, but with our own autonomy.
Taking this into account, in the field of employment, which is one of the greatest scourges of our generation in the region – 2011 data from Eurostat point to 37 percent of unemployed young people in the Algarve – JSD proposes the creation of a Strategic Plan for de combating youth unemployment in the Algarve, in addition to the Impulso Jovem Program, which is a positive program, as it creates a stimulus for hiring young managers. Our region has a unique characteristic, which is seasonality. We have some ideas about this Strategic Plan, let's now work on them better internally, to present them to the PSD. But, in our opinion, it is necessary to involve the Government, local authorities and the economic sector in the development of this plan.
Suli – You spoke of irreverence and one of the issues that has caused a lot of controversy is the introduction of tolls on Via do Infante. What is JSD's position on this measure?
EA – JSD Algarve has been demonstrating against the introduction of tolls. In fact, in 2010 we sent a Via Verde device as a Christmas gift to engineer Sócrates. We won't do the same now, but what we decided in congress was that we would evaluate the summer, which will bring breaks and from then on we will take our position.
Because now the impact can be truly felt and we will alert the Government to the need for the Algarve not to have tolls. We feel that the EN 125 is not a real alternative to the A22.
Suli – Do you think the main parties have to change the way they communicate? Is there a great disenchantment of the population in relation to politics?
EA – There is. When we do politics, we have to involve people. I defend it! We can only build a participatory society if we involve people in the discussion of ideas and projects for society. This Government is much criticized, but it has done it. The curriculum review was discussed, as well as the Green Book [on Local Administration Reform].
Suli – Speaking of the Green Book, what is your position in relation to the potential extinction of parishes and, by the way, regionalization?
EA – As for regionalization, we did not take any position in our motion. In relation to parishes, I think there should not be any extinction of parishes in our region. I argue that there isn't, but there will be. But there are municipalities in the North of the country that have as many parishes as the Algarve. I think it doesn't just happen there, there are many public institutes, a lot to cut.
Suli – What are the main proposals of your motion?
EA – Our motion has eight thematic areas: employment, entrepreneurship, education, transport, the environment, sustainable development and interiority, health and well-being, the sea and local authorities 2013. We have a ninth line, more focused to the interior, which is the training of our militants and the preparation of future political cadres.
The interior of the Algarve needs policies to encourage the settlement of young people
Suli – Your motion focuses on interiority, a subject that is now the order of the day after the fires that ravaged Serra do Caldeirão. Could this be an opportunity to encourage young people to settle in the countryside?
EA – This is one of the measures that we propose, to create incentives not only for the development of projects in the interior, whether in the agricultural sector, in renewable energies or in the part of forests, but also in the area of housing.
I think that it is necessary to look more and more at this issue [of youth renting], the bank, in recent years, has been stifling families. But we have not looked at youth leasing, something we have to start doing and creating benefits for young people to settle in the interior of the region. I think this is a way to combat the asymmetry that exists today between the coast and the interior of the region.
Suli – Another of your priority lines of action is education. What do you propose?
EA – Right now, we believe that what is needed is not more schools, but a commitment to vocational education. Nowadays, there are many students who are unable to come to Higher Education and, since there is a concern on our part in relation to school dropout, it is necessary to captivate young people to study. Professional courses prepare us to have a profession and we will defend the creation of professional courses whose employability rate in the Algarve is successful.
Furthermore, it is necessary to look at Higher Education as a key area for the economic, social and cultural development of our region. And then, we defend the restructuring of the Higher Education network. We think that there is too much offer and that it needs to be reassessed and the very employability that exists. We must not continue to offer a course to 50 or 60 students per year when they are not employable. It is better to be able to have a shorter network, which is able to raise more funds for social action. We will also advocate an increase in funds for social action.
We defend, for example, that there is a complement of housing and displacement for students whose course includes a curricular internship. In other words, an extension of the Social Action Grant to help them in this post-course period. But we also defend that a student who applies for a scholarship and refuses university accommodation should be penalized.
We also defend the adaptation of the courses given in the region to the reality of the Algarve. The bets must be on the strengths of the region, such as the Sea, Tourism and eventually agriculture and renewable energies. We will also continue to fight for the revision of the association leaders' statute so that there is accountability of the leaders.
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