“It is very important that the President of the Republic recognizes the effort made by the PS so that we, at this moment, are not faced with elections for the Assembly of the Republic again”, José Luís Carneiro told journalists today.
Recalling that there were elections six months ago, the socialist leader pointed out that “first would be the interest of the country and then the interest of the parties, and also the Socialist Party”.
The PS leader safeguarded that the socialists placed “conditions, to which the Government responded, namely removing labor laws from the State Budget, not calling into question the National Health Service and not putting into question the public structure of Social Security”.
“We also managed to present a set of proposals, many of which were accepted”, around 30 out of 100, but José Luís Carneiro said that “there are two” that he regrets not having passed: “one of them for increasing lower pensions”, and another “for lowering VAT on food”.
Even so, the PS leader considered that “the budget was a little better with the PS proposals”.
“It is not our budget, but with this we also contribute to the stability of the country, and particularly so that the Government can, in the course of 2026, among other objectives, fulfill the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan”, the PRR.
“By promulgating the State Budget for 2026, the President of the Republic highlights Parliament’s contribution to internal and external financial stability, the institutional sense and understanding of the international situation”, reads the message published on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic on the internet.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is approaching the end of his second term, also argues in the note that, “in terms of content, the Budget, despite maintaining separate provisions, particularly in areas related to the use of European funds, takes a step towards focusing on the essentials and reducing casuistry”.
The proposed State Budget law for 2026 was approved on November 27th in a final global vote with votes in favor of the two parties that support the Government, PSD and CDS-PP, and with the PS abstaining.
The remaining parties (Chega, IL, Livre, PCP, BE, PAN and JPP) voted against the document, the State Budget presented by a Government led by Luís Montenegro.