The CHEGA parliamentary group wants to know how many senior specialists have been appointed since the regional government took office to work in the presidency and regional secretariats and considers that some appointments may be “immoral”.
The party has submitted a request to the Azorean Parliament for explanations on “the criteria for the corresponding level of remuneration, depending on the specialty of each senior specialist.”
“We want to know what’s going on in these appointments, because in the past there have been a number of suspicions about people who seem to us not to be going on merit, but just for the party card,” said José Pacheco, leader of CHEGA’s parliamentary caucus.
Speaking to Antena 1/Açores, he said that one case had caught the party’s attention, that of the photographer of the regional government’s president. “He earns a salary very similar to that of a member of parliament. It doesn’t make any sense. In this case, the roles are incomparable, and we want explanations about that because we’re talking about 3900 euros a month,” said the president of CHEGA in the Azores.
“If we’re going to do favors for the party machines, CHEGA won’t be counted on,” he warned.
In the request, the party recalls that “in terms of the organization and functioning of the Regional Government, CHEGA has always advocated a reduction in the number of secretariats, political appointments and total public expenditure on the functioning of the government machine.”
CHEGA wants data that will allow it to compare the number of appointments in the current legislature with the previous one.
“Although it is legal, it is immoral for cabinet members to earn more than a member of parliament or a mayor,” says the request.

CHEGA questions Bolieiro’s photographer’s salary

The party recalls that in the previous legislature, “the appointment of senior technical specialists to the office of the President of the Regional Government was controversial”, who “received a salary level well above the salary level of the majority of Azoreans”.
The party stresses that the situation is repeating itself now. “It’s immoral for senior technicians, no matter how specialized they are, to have a salary ceiling well above the average for Azoreans who struggle daily to put bread on the table,” José Pacheco argues.
For the parliamentarian, “having technical specialists receiving more than three thousand euros a month, plus subsistence allowances and representation expenses, is an affront.”
“We can’t have such a heavy state machine when most Azoreans are experiencing difficulties,” stressed José Pacheco.

in Diário Insular–José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.