Pedro Nuno wanted to “escape the noise” and only today responds to the “blackmail” of the new prime minister. “Montenegro cannot say that it has an outlet called PS. That is absurd”

Pedro Nuno Santos decided that only this Wednesday, far from the “noise” of the inauguration, will he react to Montenegro’s challenge. “Democratic opposition” or “blocking force”? Among the socialists interviewed by CNN Portugal, there is a word that is repeated: “blackmail”

During the last few days, until he took office as prime minister, Luís Montenegro managed the silence. On Tuesday, in his first words as head of the Government, he ended up launching a challenge to the PS: does Pedro Nuno Santos’ party want to be a “democratic opposition” or a “blocking force”?

Pedro Nuno Santos responded in kind: silence. CNN Portugal learned that the socialist general secretary will make a statement this Wednesday in the Assembly of the Republic. António Costa’s successor wanted to “escape the noise” that was generated after the ceremony, says a name close to the PS leader.

It’s a way to also stand out when speaking. And the party that wants to lead the opposition is also aligned with this management of political silence. CNN Portugal made dozens of calls – members of the secretary general’s hard core, prominent activists, historical names, former rulers, deputies and MEPs – and few answered or wanted to speak, others simply responded that they had not seen the first speech of Montenegro as prime minister.

There were also those who shot at the only representative of the party (apart from the former ministers) at the ceremony: Alexandra Leitão. When contacted, the deputy said she needed more time to react. The PS press office also did not provide any name for this purpose.

By opting for silence, Pedro Nuno Santos “wanted to make a difference” compared to André Ventura, who is also competing for the distinction as leader of the opposition: he wants to show that, when he speaks, he really has something to say, highlighted the source close to the PS leader.

“This silence represents one thing: the ball is in Montenegro’s court. The PS has no advantage in anticipating anything”, says another ally of Pedro Nuno Santos. It is necessary, he says, “to leave what they want to do in the hands of those who won the elections”. “I realize that this is Montenegro’s way out. But you can’t say that there is an output called PS. This is outrageous.”

The word that is repeated: “blackmail”

Silence is never absolute and, therefore, the PS began placing its vision, its state of mind, in the television commentary spaces. On CNN Portugal, António Mendonça Mendes, a member of the party secretariat, said that he did not think “the way the prime minister addressed the PS was correct”, that Montenegro had a “very unhappy” expression and that “the tone with who tried to confront the PS was extremely impolite.”

Because, Mendonça Mendes stressed, Montenegro will have conveyed to the President of the Republic that it was capable of governing. “It is not normal for us to think that this stability will be ensured by the PS”, which does not want to be “the crutch”.

Sérgio Sousa Pinto was the first to talk about blackmail. “Trying to blackmail the PS or any other party in the sense of saying ‘either they behave as if they were the Government’s support group or they are a blocking force’ doesn’t make any sense”, he classified. In Montenegro he sees a “schizophrenic process that is not entirely clear”, with the prime minister torn between hostility to the socialist legacy and “hat in hand asking for support”.

At the end of the night, “blackmail” would be the word that would be repeated in the voice of João Torres, a name close to Pedro Nuno Santos, his campaign director. “We cannot accept this blackmail”, he said, given Montenegro’s attempt to confront the PS and try to “pass the burden of approving state budgets to the PS”.

“The PSD and Luís Montenegro still don’t understand the new political times we are living in”, he summarized. Regarding Montenegro’s statement, he added, it was “excessive”: “It reveals a stance that someone has to solve the problem of governability other than the PSD”. Montenegro, he said, “assumes itself as the leader of the opposition to the opposition.”

PS support: a “valuable object” that Montenegro will have to negotiate

On the phone, João Cravinho, a historic socialist, summarized Montenegro’s words to the PS in an expression: “If they hold me, I’ll be fine”. But he warns that socialists have no obligation, “as Montenegro wants to assume”.

For the former minister, the support of the PS is a “valuable object”. And, therefore, Montenegro “has to say what it is willing to negotiate”.

It is on this path that the PS has insisted. It’s opposition, yes. And it will only give the new Government the green light on concrete measures, which reflect the vision of the party itself. Pedro Nuno Santos has already approved the amending budget, if it contains several proposals that the PS had committed to in the campaign. After that, you’ll soon see.

“The PS will make responsible opposition. The PS will certainly not pursue any scorched earth policy”, reinforced António Mendonça Mendes.

“It is obvious that Montenegro has a very narrow path. And a program incompatible with that of the PS”, concluded Pedro’s ally Nuno Santos, who highlighted that the socialist unblocking in the appointment of the President of the Republic “is not a precedent for anything”. Solutions, he threw, only with Chega, “the bride of whom Montenegro is ashamed”.

It is now in Montenegro’s hands to show how it will untie this knot and manage to govern for four years. The PS, considered Álvaro Beleza, former representative of Pedro Nuno Santos and member of the political commission, “has a sense of responsibility”.

“The burden of governance and the possibility of having government stability lies with the Government. It cannot be placed on top of the PS”, summarized the socialist.

Álvaro Beleza reinforced that, in “regime issues” and in matters linked to the PS’s “ethical code”, there will be bridges with the new Government. Now, whatever there is to disagree with, the PS does not compromise. On the contrary, “will be against”.