José Gusmão, who has been an MEP since 2019 and was also a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic in the XI Legislature (2009-2011), worked, between 2011 and 2018, as an assistant in the European Parliament, with Miguel Portas and Marisa Matias.
An economist by training, he graduated from the Higher Institute of Economics and Management (ISEG), where he was a member of the board of the Student Association and the University Senate. He is once again the head of the list of the Left Bloc for Legislative Elections, for the Algarve circle.
Now that the election campaign is underway, the Sul Informação is publishing interviews with the list leaders of the 14 parties or coalitions that are running for the Legislatures on March 10th.
The same questions were sent, in a timely manner, to all 15 first candidates, covering the main themes in focus in the Algarve.
The interviews will be published as responses reach our newsroom.
Sul Informação – What are the priorities of your political force in the next legislature for the Algarve?
Jose Gusmao – Re-elect a deputy from the left in the Algarve. The Algarve elects only 9 deputies and lost, in the last elections, all representation to the left of the PS.
All polls show that the Bloc is the left that can elect this deputy. The Bloc presented a list with six independent candidates, in addition to the representative António Branco. We want a Bloc of many lefts that returns representation to this political field.
Electing a Bloc deputy is not just a way of returning representation to the left in the district. It is a way for the left to contribute a deputy to a left-wing majority in the next assembly. If the dispersion of votes to the left prevents us from electing a deputy, that contribution will be lost.
It is also a way of electing a deputy outside the amnesia coalition, made up of PS and PSD, who have systematically postponed the most structuring investments for the district and who present themselves, once again, promising everything they did not do and even rejected when proposed. by the Block.
SI – What led you to accept being head of the list for the party you represent?
JG – The conviction that we could present in the Algarve a list that brought together solutions to the main problems in the Algarve region, with activists from many of the causes that mobilized people in this region.
These elections are decisive for the future of health, education, social and labor rights, water and the environment, and the quality of democracy. I didn't want to miss this fight.
SI – What are the expectations and objectives of your political force in relation to these Legislative Elections?
JG – We want to contribute to the construction of a plural left-wing majority.
The experience of the absolute majority of the PS was tragic and showed the importance of having a strong left.
The election of a Bloc deputy in the Algarve is the only way to simultaneously contribute to a left-wing majority and reinforce a demanding left that will be decisive in the choices that count for the coming years.
SI – What remains to be done in the Algarve?
JG – The housing problem, being a national problem, is particularly serious in the Algarve, a region highly sought after for tourist accommodation, second homes or pure real estate speculation.
Seasonal leasing is at odds with the employment offer, which is also seasonal. When there is a job, there is no home. When there is a house, there is no job.
The scarcity of available homes and unbearable prices require courageous measures that only the Bloc proposes, such as the prohibition of sales to non-residents, the regulation of the rental market and the increased taxation of abandonment and non-essential uses of dwellings. .
Public schools are one of the greatest instruments of equality in Portuguese society, but they have been under attack for several years.
The PS Government, with the support of the PSD, blocked the Bloc's proposal to recover teachers' service time. Today, in the election campaign, both promise what they just failed.
The Bloc will maintain the coherence of the position it has always had and reaffirms to all professionals that this is a serious commitment. A commitment that extends to all education professionals. Specialized technicians and operational assistants have an irreplaceable role in the life of schools, not only in their specific functions, but also in identifying family and social problems in the contexts in which schools are located.
Unfortunately, the lack of investment in public schools and in the careers of those who attend them means that there are also serious shortages here, in terms of numbers and working conditions.
The Block defends the valorization of the careers of all public school professionals. Investing in public schools is investing in the country.
Over the last few years, the Block has been involved in all the struggles to protect the environment in the Algarve. From the defense of Alagoas Brancas and other biodiversity treasures, to the protection of the Ria Formosa and the barrier islands. From investing in renewable energy to defending sustainable modes of agricultural production.
Investing in the energy transition is a project that can create thousands of good jobs in the Algarve and can also contribute to reducing household bills, through self-consumption and energy communities.
The Bloc defends the streamlining of support for families and companies for investment in production infrastructure.
We also defend a policy to protect the Algarve's biodiversity heritage, of which our own intervention has been testimony.
SI – Drought and lack of water is a pressing issue in the Algarve. What solutions do you advocate, in the short term, knowing that the water currently available only arrives until August? And in the medium and long term?
JG – The Algarve has been on the brink of a water catastrophe for a long time. Environmental associations, farmers' associations and academics have warned of this imminence. It wasn't for lack of warning that we arrived here.
We absolutely reject increasing the price of water for essential domestic consumption, under any pretext.
These measures are ineffective and will only burden families with lower incomes. And they are unfair. Citizens cannot be the ones to pay for the consequences of negligence in maintaining networks and regulating economic activity in their essential consumption.
Agriculture, and in particular small farmers, must be protected in the decisions to be made because it crucially depends on water and fulfills a social, environmental and territorial function that is irreplaceable.
Furthermore, the consequences of the destruction of cultures would be devastating and difficult to reversible.
We believe that it is essential to direct support to agriculture to promote the agricultural ecological transition.
In tourism and other economic activities, it is essential to promote and generalize best practices, such as the use of wastewater on golf courses, other commercial equipment, public and private gardens, or the use of seawater in water parks and other equipment.
In the medium and long term, the Block defends investment in irrigation, distribution and sanitation networks, including the use of wastewater and gray water.
These investments should be considered a priority because they are doubly cheaper, in terms of their cost and the cost of the water they provide. And they do not have any environmental impacts.
Drastically reducing water losses across all networks would have a huge impact on immediate availability. The remaining investments on the table must be staggered according to the same criteria.
In any case, any additional costs must not be passed on to the consumer.
It is important to emphasize that water is not a commodity, it is a right.
SI – Health is a very deficient sector in the Algarve and in the country. What measures do you recommend to solve health problems in the Algarve?
JG – Due to the lack of professionals in the various careers, the first measure is, necessarily, the admission of more, including the now auxiliary health technicians.
The Algarve is lacking in some medical and nursing specialties, which are absolutely necessary for the development of programs and projects included in the National and Regional Health Plans.
But admitting it won't solve the problem if measures to retain professionals are not adopted, namely, putting an end to the deregulation of working hours, which is one of the main reasons for requests for dismissal.
Democratic management, including by middle managers, being another reason given by professionals for the dissatisfaction they feel, is definitely another of the changes we advocate.
SI – What about the Algarve Central Hospital? What should be done?
JG – It must be built and constitute a reference institution in the most differentiated responses that the Algarve needs.
The connection to the University of Algarve must be strengthened and the training of professionals must be expanded to meet all the region's needs in the future.
Existing hospitals in Faro, Portimão and Lagos should also expand their capabilities.
The Algarve Central Hospital should add to, not replace, the current NHS capacity in the Algarve.
SI – The Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve and the Regional Health Administration joined, from January 1st, into a single body, the Algarve Local Health Unit. What do you think of this change and what expectations do you have for your future?
JG – At this stage I would say it is a challenge. We have always defended that Primary Health Care should have management and financial autonomy.
Hospitals have always been a money sink, pushing health promotion and disease prevention into a more than secondary role.
Although this model may allow greater accessibility and speed for, for example, specialist consultations in health centers, we will see what organizational plan the administration will present.
Of course, we will be here to monitor.
SI – Are you for or against Regionalization? Why?
JG – Clearly in favor. The right-wing victory in the regionalization referendum was a defeat for the country.
Regional power already exists, has real powers and determines many of the policies and investments that affect our territory.
The Algarve has been systematically ignored in almost all of the country's investment decisions.
The postponement of democratic regionalization makes regional power an extension of central power and all associated vices.
The Bloc does not give up on regionalization and the conquest of this level of decision-making at which so many public resources are made available to the sphere of democratic decision-making and scrutiny.
It is our conviction that a region of the Algarve legitimized by the vote of those who live here will be a first step towards finally unlocking the urgent investments that have been systematically neglected, in health, education, universities, transport, infrastructure or the environment. Democracy is the way.
SI – Will the integration of the former Regional Directorates of Culture and Agriculture and Fisheries into the CCDR have beneficial effects for these sectors or not?
JG – The reduction and simplification of structures seems beneficial to me, but regionalization is not this. Regionalization is the democratic and transparent definition of policies and what counts, in the end, are political choices.
Agricultural activity across the region is threatened by the water crisis and inequality between producers.
Despite the new CAP rules admitting the protection of small producers and sustainable modes of production, support continues to go to the same ones as always.
In addition to inequality in the distribution of support, there is inequality in access to water and the unsustainable use made by super-intensive production.
We defend the abandonment of super-intensive productions, a more diversified agriculture, supporting rainfed crops, organic farming and local food transformation projects and their integration into other productive sectors.
We will also fight for a fairer distribution of water and community support.
In fisheries, we defend support for the modernization and decarbonization of the national fishing fleet and the promotion of safety in maritime work, sustainably facing the problem of silting in the fishing ports where it occurs.
Fishing must be a worthwhile activity and, to this end, we will demand the setting of minimum prices for the first sale of fish worth more than production costs and the definition of maximum margins for fish intermediation, in order to guarantee prices fair to the consumer.
Cultural structures in the Algarve have great difficulty accessing European funds, unless they accept to be subsidiaries of economic activity (tourism, sea).
There is no space for “fundamental culture”, only for “applied culture” and the integration of culture in the CCDR will further accentuate this distortion.
The centralization of heritage issues within a national structure removes the possibility of an integrated vision of heritage in relation to the characteristics of the region.
The excessive municipalization of culture prevents the development of an integrated cultural activity and places it in the domain of local interests.
The Bloc defends an increase in the budget for culture that allows cultural institutions financial stability that allows them to develop programs, value their professionals and protect the creative process from external interests.
We also defend the allocation of part of the tourist taxes to the National Arts Plan for the cultural training of young people and future audiences.
SI – What solutions do you recommend for tolls on Via do Infante?
JG – The one we have always advocated: extinction.
Unlike the PS and PSD, which did not extinguish them when they had the opportunity, the Bloc insistently proposed their extinction.
PS and PSD ensured that they remained and now appear to defend what they failed for years on end.
For the Bloc, this is not an election campaign promise. It was our practical position for years on end. In the Assembly and in the movement against tolls, here in the Algarve.
SI – And for the completion of works on the EN125, from Olhão to Vila Real de Santo António?
JG – These works are urgent and have also been promised for a long time. The Bloc never stopped fighting for its advancement.
The EN125 is an absolutely structural route in the Algarve and the section in question is of enormous importance for territorial cohesion in the leeward region, not to mention the issue of road safety.
The eternal postponement of these works by successive governments is a crime against the territory and enormous irresponsibility.
SI – One of the biggest problems in the Algarve is mobility. Work is being carried out to electrify the Algarve Line, the creation of the Metrobus is expected and there is talk of a possible TGV connection between Faro and Huelva/Seville. What is your opinion on these issues and what solutions do you advocate?
JG – The policy of successive central bloc governments for transport in the Algarve has left citizens without sustainable mobility alternatives.
In addition to the abandonment of the railway, there were tolls on Via do Infante and the degradation of Estrada Nacional 125.
Furthermore, urban public transport systems are incipient or non-existent.
The same happens with gentle modes, namely cycle paths, generally designed for tourism and not for everyday use.
In a district where public services have become increasingly distant from their users, people from the Algarve are forced to use their cars and punished for doing so.
The Bloc defends the electrification of the entire Algarve line and investment in rolling stock, a promise made in every election.
The railway line must be linked to local public transport links and free parking near the stations.
SI – The president of the Algarve Tourism Region complained that the budget of this organization is short and has not been increased for many years. What do you recommend for this sector in the Algarve region?
JG – We argue that support for tourist activity must take into account the importance of the sector in the Algarve economy, but much more important is the destination of this financing.
Public support in the tourism sector must be channeled to year-round or low-season tourism projects.
They should not, under any circumstances, serve to reinforce the strong seasonality of this activity.
Reducing the seasonality of tourism makes it possible to make profitable the enormous capacity installed in hotels or restaurants and stabilize and reduce pressure on infrastructure and public services.
Furthermore, reducing seasonality also promotes more qualified tourist activities, with greater added value, with better articulation with other economic activities and with better distribution in the territory, such as rural, environmental, heritage, cultural, gastronomic or oenological tourism.
SI – In the current Government, does Tourism share a State secretariat with Commerce and Services? Do you think it is enough? Or should a future Government give more importance to Tourism? In what way?
JG – Personally, I think that, without prejudice to its own institutional treatment, the region and the country benefit from a strong articulation between tourist activity and other related economic activities, so that tourism and the external demand that tourism brings to the region and to the country can be used as catalysts for other economic activities.
SI – In the case of more divisive issues, will you vote for the AR according to your conviction, even if it goes against your party's guidelines?
JG – I will vote according to the program with which I was elected. That's the contract I have with the people who vote for me.
On all matters that arise during the legislature and are not covered or foreseen in our program, I will vote according to my conscience.
The Bloc has no voting discipline.
SI – Do you consider that it would be useful to change the electoral law, to create single-member and partial constituencies and a national compensation circle, and thus bring deputies closer to citizens? Why or why not?
JG – I am completely against single-member circles. The idea of having circles in which there is no plural representation is a democratic aberration, even with a compensation circle.
I am, on the contrary, for larger circles that ensure plural representation.
If there is a national compensation circle, it must never exist at the expense of plurality of local representation.
SI – Do you want to add any more topics or questions?
JG – The Algarve makes an incomparable contribution to the Portuguese economy. It is the region that contributes most positively to our exports and our trade balance.
Despite this contribution, those who live and work in the Algarve still do not reap the benefits of this economic contribution.
The Algarve has the lowest salaries in the country, largely due to the precariousness and seasonality of tourism and related activities.
Instead of actively countering the seasonality of the Algarve's economy and protecting the rights and employment stability of those who work, central bloc governments have worsened these imbalances and encouraged a work regime without rights, often through migrants.
The Bloc defends a new push for collective contracting, the penalization of the use of precarious work and support for economic activities in low season.
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