PS and Chega accuse the Government of being a focus of instability and heading towards the precipice

Speaking to journalists in parliament, shortly after deputies had generally approved the PS diploma for the immediate end of tolls in ex-scut- while a PSD/CDS-PP draft resolution that recommended their gradual reduction was rejected -, Pedro Nuno Santos stated that the socialists are “fulfilling an electoral promise”.

“I had the opportunity to say that you work in the Government and you work in parliament. The PS is not in parliament just to watch: the PS is in parliament to do work, to approve its proposals, to improve the lives of the Portuguese people , and that’s what we did here today”, he said.

The socialist leader considered that, a month after the Government took office, all that has been removed is “a change of logo, a proposal to reduce the IRS that turned out to be false, the promotion of instability in various administration services” and, now, “the dramatization of the situation of public accounts” by the Minister of Finance, which is reminiscent of “the loincloth speech by former Prime Minister Durão Barroso”.

The PS leader accused the Finance Minister of “technical unpreparedness to carry out his duties”, which he considered worrying, adding that the Government seems to be committed to “preparing the political terrain in Portugal so as not to fulfill the promises it made elections.”

“What we needed was a Government to govern, the PS in opposition is managing to do more than the PSD in Government”, he stated.

Refusing to form negative coalitions or to be a force blocking governance, Pedro Nuno stated that the PS is just doing its job, presenting proposals in parliament, and has had “a positive attitude”, making itself available to facilitate a amending budget on matters of consensus and having reached an agreement for the election of the president of parliament.

“We can only look at the Government and with astonishment see that the main element promoting instability has been the Government itself and no party in the Assembly of the Republic”, he said.

In turn, Chega’s leader, André Ventura, considered that this afternoon’s votes are further “proof of the enormous incapacity of this Democratic Alliance Government to legislate”, accusing the executive of having sought to reach consensus with his party on a gradual reduction of tolls until their elimination.

“He chose to maintain exactly what he had and to try to condition the Assembly by talking about coalitions or negative alliances. (…) Once again, the Government of Luís Montenegro is on the wrong side of history”, he accused.

Asked whether the approval of bills without regard to the PSD and CDS-PP could not constitute an obstacle to governance, Ventura argued that this “was something that Dr Luís Montenegro should have thought about”.

“I was the one who told him: ‘Doctor Luís Montenegro, you are going the wrong way, and this wrong way will end up on a cliff that only you don’t want to see’. He says, ‘proudly alone, we walk alone’, and the path alone, you can see where you’re going to end up”, he said.

Ventura stated that he did “everything possible to prevent this from happening”, but said that, after having rejected any governance or convergence agreement, Chega cannot now be asked to reject proposals that were in its electoral program.

“The Government, on top of that, could have the good sense to think: ‘I don’t have an absolute majority, so I’m going to try to legislate in a way that goes as closely as possible to the benches that can give me a majority’. That’s what I would do” , he said, insinuating that the PSD is perhaps seeking to “create a political crisis to victimize itself”.