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Coutinho, João Pereira
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3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
As inflexible in mentality as in the crisis
The current crisis in Portugal isn't just about numbers, it's also about people's mentalities, writes the tabloid Correio da Manhã: "You've only got to look at the outraged reactions to the new system of geographic mobility in the public sector. The government's idea: if there's no work where they live, civil servants must move where they're needed. In fact there's nothing simpler: if you have to choose between moving and unemployment, especially in a country that's as small as a chamber pot, no reasonable person will give it a second thought. Particularly if you've got a family to feed. But in Portugal people have a unique take on things: the dream of the average Portuguese is to live on the first floor, work on the second, take your holidays on the third and retire to the old age home on the fourth. And when the time comes, to have the undertakers up on the fifth. ... Reforming the country isn't hard, but changing people's mentalities is all the more difficult."
» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » Society, » Portugal
Portugal's striptease cuts
Portugal's Minister of the Environment and Agriculture Assunção Cristas has allowed her staff to show up for work without a tie during the summer heat. Writing in the tabloid Correio da Manhã, João Pereira Coutinho finds this unusual: "In order to save on air-conditioning her staff are allowed to come to work without ties. I admit I knew nothing about this regulation nor that it is only possible to remove one's tie per ministerial decree. But I welcome the symbolic aspect of the gesture: As long as the government cuts down on the clothing of its staff, it doesn't cut down on its costs. This measure, which is more than symbolic, could even provide an incentive for public servants to identify where money is being wasted in their departments in order to avoid losing another piece of clothing before December. The rules of these 'striptease cuts' would be very simple: Anyone who manages to keep their clothes on until the end of the year will be promoted, whereas those who finish the year in their underpants, would immediately join the ranks of the 8,000 civil servants who [the government has announced] are to be cut."
» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Labour, » Portugal
Prime Minister Sócrates deserves an Oscar
Portugal's prime minister José Sócrates has been accused of having lied when he presented the country's new stability and growth programme. Writing in the daily Correio da Manhã João Pereira Coutinho says this is the stuff of movies and Sócrates deserves an Oscar for his performance: "The film by director [Finance Minister] Teixeira dos Santos is a heroic saga about a government that ... tears up its election manifesto after just five months and at the same time guarantees the Portuguese that taxes won't be raised. In movies this last feat is always achieved thanks to major special effects. In Portugal all it took was a very special actor: someone who stands before the cameras and confirms that only the rich will pay more (although they make up just one percent of the population) and that the middle classes won't be bled dry in the course of all this tax relief. Sócrates' colleague [actress] Inês de Medeiros is right: It's not a bad thing when Sócrates lies. The bad thing, I would add, is not to applaud the talent of a man who has elevated this art to an unprecedented level."
» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Portugal
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