The PT candidate for the presidency, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said today (21) that, if he wins the elections, next year he will convene conferences to discuss policies with people with disabilities. “Next year there will be a municipal, state and national conference, for us to review the things we have achieved. Take advantage of and improve what is weakened and try to propose new things, so that people with disabilities are treated with full respect and democracy”, he said when participating in a meeting with people with disabilities and organizations that defend the rights of this population.
According to the candidate, the conferences are a way of resuming the construction of policies that were in development during his two terms as president. “When I was in the presidency we held 74 national conferences. I participated in the vast majority of them. And we’re going to have to go back and do the national conferences again so you can put what new problems that have arisen,” he said.
Representatives of the visually impaired, hearing impaired, autistic people, as well as activists for the cause, asked for more attention from the State, more representation, inclusion and visibility for issues related to this public. Lula praised the work of organizations that defend people with disabilities. In her speech, she encouraged their participation in state and municipal conferences as responsible for creating conditions for the federal government to take measures for the benefit of these people.
For Lula, without demanding civil society, it is very difficult to put measures in favor of these people into practice. “Because if you don’t put it up, don’t demand it and don’t fight, things may not happen. It is a whole job of convincing the minister, of convincing the president and then all the work of convincing Congress and society,” she added.
Among the problems faced by people with disabilities, Lula highlighted the delay in granting the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC), which guarantees a minimum wage for this population and for the elderly over 65 years of age. “There are many people without receiving BPC. The minimum wage has five years that it does not increase. There have been people in line to receive a benefit for four years. Something we did in 20 days. In other words, we were supposed to have advanced much further,” she said.
To face this and other problems, the candidate emphasized that interested people need to put pressure on governments. “When the State makes this public policy, everything becomes easier. And you know that it is a whole process of education to overcome a whole process of resistance”.
