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Pedro Nuno Santos refuses to allow the Socialist Party to be a blocking force in Parliament, at the same time assuring that the party will not condition its action because of Chega. In an interview with SIC, he says that the PS cannot be asked to cancel itself, since it only has two fewer deputies than the Democratic Alliance.
The socialist general secretary guaranteed, this Monday, that the PS will not condition the parliamentary initiative because of Chega, who voted in favor of the socialist bench’s proposal for the abolition of the former SCUT. Pedro Nuno Santos also criticized the Government, which says it has done little or nothing other than changing the logo and dismissals, but has shown itself available to negotiate structural reforms, as is the case with Justice.
“We saw a Government in combat. In combat against the previous Government, in combat against opposition. A Government with little sign of future and hope”, he said, remembering that the socialists broke the impasse with the election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic.
Pedro Nuno Santos considers that Luís Montenegro’s Executive had the worst start to the legislature, but assured that the Socialist Party is not working for elections and passed the ball to the Democratic Alliance.
“We are not working for elections, the government seems to be working for elections”, said the socialist leader in an interview with SIC and SIC Notícias.
The general secretary of the PS reiterated the criticisms he has made of the first month of Luís Montenegro’s government – which he classified as a “bad government” – countering that, unlike the executive, the PS did not create “any parliamentary combat group”, but yes, a group of deputies “of quality who do their job”.
“We will not cancel each other out, we will not cease to exist, to present our proposals, to fight for them. We will do this with a great sense of responsibility”, he emphasized.
Regarding negotiations with teachers, Pedro Nuno Santos highlighted that the important thing is that the Government is able to reach an agreement with these and other professionals with whom it is meeting at the moment. He also said that the Government’s proposal for teachers is not very far from that of the PS, as it proposes the recovery of service time in five years, when the socialists proposed in four.
“Once again a demonstration that we are not a blocking force, but rather a responsible one because we have made ourselves available to build a majority with the Government that will allow the negotiations concluded with the unions to be viable”, he said.
The issue of justice was present in many of the questions that were asked to the leader of the PS, who recalled the well-known initiative last week by several “personalities of recognized merit in Portuguese society” who launched a debate on this topic that must be carried out in the country .
“And there is a good example, it is a matter where it is very important that the PS and PSD can meet and discuss together, working together on all regime matters, namely justice, foreign policy, defense policy”, he said .
Pedro Nuno Santos did not want to commit to a position regarding the current Attorney General of the Republic, Lucília Gago, saying that she herself has already expressed her desire to leave at the end of her term, in October. Regarding the Public Ministry’s action in Operation Influencer, he believes that no one is above scrutiny.
