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Despite all the drama surrounding the non-approval of the 2022 State Budget, important steps were taken last week when the Portuguese Parliament approved the proposals on decriminalisation of medically assisted death (euthanasia), on a teleworking regime, and the Climate Framework Law.

The Socialist Party, moved by economic interests, and with the help of the President of the Republic, has led Portugal into a political crisis that will result in early legislative elections, but such political crisis is “artificial, unnecessary and a trick by Prime Minister António Costa” to obtain an absolute majority, said Catarina Martins, National Coordinator of Left Bloc.

The Portuguese government has claimed a “duty of neutrality” for refusing to subscribe a joint letter to the European Commission, signed by 17 Member States, condemning the recently approved Hungarian law which is discriminatory against LGBTI+ people. Fabíola Cardoso, MP for Left Bloc, stresses that "Portugal needs to quickly reverse its position.”

Catarina Martins, Left Bloc coordinator, and José Soeiro, MP for Left Bloc, presented a proposal that aims to regulate work done through digital platforms: employment contracts, penalties for non-compliant platforms and clarification of the algorithm are the main proposals.

The victory of teacher and trade unionist Pedro Castillo in the Peruvian presidential election puts a brake on the specter of the corrupt and authoritarian right led by candidate Keiko Fujimori.

Left Bloc presented a draft resolution in the Portuguese Parliament for the government to defend the waiver in the European Union and for the vaccine to be treated as “a public good with universal access”.

With the European Union-India summit soon to be held in the city of Porto, Left Bloc expresses its solidarity with the Indian population oppressed by Narendra Modi’s divisive and persecutory policies.