“The Socialist Party does not need to posture to be anyone’s preferred partner. It must present its positions and negotiate them with those in government, not with other political forces. There is no trio for negotiation,” stated the former Minister of Labor in an interview on the program “Conversa Capital,” aired by Antena 1 and Jornal de Negócios.
In the debate on the state of the nation held in parliament on Thursday, Socialist Party leader José Luís Carneiro accused the Prime Minister of changing the policy of “no is no” to “yes is yes” in relations with Chega. Luís Montenegro responded by saying he dialogues with all parties and called for humility from the socialists.
In the same interview, Vieira da Silva expressed his belief that the government led by Luís Montenegro would not cross red lines related to “the Democratic State, the European project, and the defense strategy” and highlighted a benefit for the socialists: “The Socialist Party respects social dialogue.”
At the end of a week in which the government and Chega jointly approved an amendment to the immigration law in parliament, the former Minister of Labor remarked in the interview that “Luís Montenegro and his government have just formed an effective alliance with the far-right.”
“And the far-right in Portugal, as in many other countries, has a discourse that focuses heavily on xenophobia, often on racism, and blaming all the world’s ills on immigration,” he said.
