“The Prime Minister has one year to prove his worth (…) and that is what the Socialist Party wanted to communicate with the abstention,” José Luís Carneiro told journalists upon arrival at a PS session at FAUL to discuss the State Budget for 2026 (OE2026).
According to the PS Secretary-General, “the abstention as a contribution to the country’s political stability has a validity of one year” because the Government “now has to demonstrate” if it “can respond to the urgent needs facing the country.”
When questioned by journalists about the PS’s actions after Prime Minister Luís Montenegro rejected the PS’s proposal to permanently increase the lowest pensions during today’s parliamentary debate, Carneiro indicated that the socialists will persist with this measure in the OE2026’s specialty phase.
“We will present proposals seeking to ensure the assumptions I mentioned in Parliament, that is, on the one hand, ensuring public accounts stability, maintaining the Social Security financial structure’s sustainability, and ensuring no increase in the structural net cost of the State,” he added.
The PS leader stated that this will be achieved through a “transfer from the State Budget to guarantee this increase,” in case, as the PS is convinced will happen, “there is an increase beyond what is forecasted in the Social Security balance.”
Carneiro also outlined that the PS proposal will include a clause that, “in case of a crisis concerning the Government’s forecasts,” one point of the IRC will be used to “ensure, with respect to 2027, the 400 million euros needed to support these pension increases.”
“Therefore, this is the very responsible proposal that will be made by the Socialist Party, along with others, in light of the proposals I presented,” he concluded.
