“I do not anticipate that the PS has much to say about the budget process without knowing the budget. We will wait for the opportune moment,” stated Eurico Brilhante Dias in an interview, when questioned about the State Budget for 2026 (OE2026).
The PS leader finds it curious that the government has scheduled municipal elections two days after the budget’s submission.
“We have already seen the electoral scene with the increase of pensions in September, and now we have a strong expectation of another electoral scene on October 10,” he criticizes.
Referring the decision to the PS bodies, Brilhante Dias emphasizes that “the budget initiative belongs to the government” and that it is necessary to know the proposal to make a decision.
“The initiative belongs to the government, and until that moment, the PS will not formulate, should not formulate a position on the budget,” he asserts.
When asked if there won’t be prior negotiations like those last year between Luís Montenegro and the former PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos, Brilhante Dias refrains from answering directly, indicating that the socialists will speak “about the budget when the topic is the budget” because the current focus is on municipal elections and preparing alternative proposals in different areas.
Regarding what the PS will do if the government invites them to the negotiation table before the submission of the OE2026, the socialist parliamentary leader considers it “unlikely” given the executive’s attitude.
“Regarding the budget, we do not know what will happen, and therefore, the PS will make a statement at the opportune moment, probably when it knows the budget lines,” he insists.
Eurico Brilhante Dias once again leads the PS parliamentary group in a very different situation from when he held this position during António Costa’s absolute majority, with the party now reduced to less than half the deputies it previously had.
On the poor electoral results in the May 18 legislative elections, he rejects the idea of a single-person responsibility of Pedro Nuno Santos and considers it “a collective responsibility of the PS.”
“I supported the secretary-general in his decision and campaigned alongside him to achieve the best possible result. I will not enter the logic of blaming one man at a particular moment. Pedro Nuno Santos does not deserve that,” he emphasizes.
About a possible discomfort with having the former PS leader in the parliamentary group, the socialist leader responds, “half-jokingly, half-seriously,” that Pedro Nuno Santos is perhaps the PS deputy “who most deserves to be in parliament.”
“He was surely the one who fought for the best possible result most days and most dedicatedly to be elected. Therefore, Pedro Nuno is welcome in the group, he is in the group, and we count on him without acrimony,” he assures.
Regarding the controversy involving the demolition of shacks in Loures, a municipality led by socialist Ricardo Leão, Brilhante Dias was questioned about the position of presidential candidate and former PS secretary-general António José Seguro, that decisions like these need to be taken “with the head but executed with the heart.”
“It is very difficult to criticize Ricardo Leão and say that he does not have a heart. Ricardo Leão has a heart,” he defends.
In Brilhante Dias’ view, who points the finger at the government for the lack of answers on this matter, “it is a particularly tough situation, but only in the PS would this subject be discussed like this.”
“Because it is a very difficult social reality, for which socialists demand solutions more than tearing down shacks. They seek solutions that are socially just. And that is why it is so good to be part of the PS,” he observes.
