The PS leader considered this Friday, November 28, that the prime minister, instead of complaining, should “recognize and value the sense of state” of the socialists when making the budget proposal viable, refusing to commit to the State Budget for 2027.
“I don’t know what Dr. Luís Montenegro is complaining about. I would say that he should recognize and value the sense of state and service to the country that the PS revealed because if yesterday [quinta-feira] had voted against the budget, today we would be plunged back into a political crisis”, José Luís Carneiro responded to journalists, at the end of a visit to APAV, when asked about the Prime Minister’s criticism the day before that PS and Chega invaded the Government’s “decision-making sphere” in the Budget.
The PS leader suggested that the prime minister “does not have the best memory” and recalled the number of proposals that the PSD, in opposition, presented for PS government budgets: for 2023 more than 220 proposals and for 2024 more than 290 proposals.
“The PS presented 100 and saw 31 made viable”, he compared, saying that he did not expect any recognition from the Government for this feasibility, which he did “in the interests of the country”.
Carneiro said that, at the end of 2026, he will tell the Government that the PS gave him “all the conditions to comply and to do what he has to do, which is to govern in accordance with the promises he made to the Portuguese at election time”.
“Well, that’s certainly what I’m saying, that is, We cannot commit to the next budget, because we now show our sense of responsibility taking into account the extraordinary objectives that the Government has”responded when asked if this meant that he was not committed to voting on the State Budget for 2027.
The Prime Minister considered that the Government’s State Budget proposal for 2026 was not distorted by changes in parliament, but that PS and Chega violated the political principle that the PSD/CDS-PP Government has “the sphere of decision-making”.