The document was approved by the Council of Ministers on Thursday and submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on Saturday, encompassing measures already contained in the electoral program of the AD, such as reductions in IRS and IRC or increases in salaries and pensions, alongside new commitments.
Among the key innovations are the State reform (with the Government ruling out layoffs or salary cuts for public employees), which warranted a standalone ministry in the PSD/CDS-PP Government, intentions to amend labor legislation, including the strike law, revision of the Health Basic Law, and advancing the commitment to invest 2% of GDP in Defense this year.
Tightened control over immigration is another central element of the program from the second executive led by Luís Montenegro, featuring a new chapter compared to the document presented before the campaign: a Transformative Agenda, establishing ten priority areas for Government action.
These priorities include income policy, State reform, wealth creation, “regulated immigration,” quality public services with private complementarity, neighborhood security, faster justice, responses to the housing crisis, investment in new infrastructures, implementing the “Water that Unites” project, and the strategic investment reinforcement plan in defense.
During the program delivery, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Carlos Abreu Amorim, declared that beyond ensuring stability, the document aims to “transform the country” over four years.
Despite lacking updates to the budgetary framework, the minister argued that the Government’s economic forecasts—more optimistic than those of entities such as the Bank of Portugal or the European Commission—are “those that correspond to reality,” while acknowledging possible changes due to international circumstances.
The minister affirmed the Government’s intent to engage “in dialogue with all parties” to seek consensus for implementing the program, which received criticism from the PS, asserting that the executive “must choose with whom to dialogue.”
Opposition critiques ranged from contrasts between the AD electoral program and the Government’s (PS), accusations of lacking innovative ideas (Chega), or, in the cases of PCP and BE, favoring large corporations.
After the Prime Minister’s initial presentation, an hour and a half is allocated for the first questions and answers involving the ten political forces in the XVII legislature’s hemicycle, starting with Chega—now the second-largest parliamentary party—followed by PSD, PS, IL, Livre, PCP, CDS-PP, and the single deputies from BE, PAN, and JPP, the only newcomer.
This will be followed by approximately four and a half hours of document debate, with expected interventions from various ministers throughout the parliamentary afternoon.
Wednesday morning is reserved for the closing period, with about two hours for interventions by parties (in ascending order) and the Government, followed by the vote on the PCP’s motion to reject the document, which PS and Chega have already stated they will block.
Only after the Government’s program is reviewed and not rejected will the XXV Constitutional Government, which took office on June 5, fully assume its functions.
Besides the Government program, the opposition is anticipated to bring recent assaults linked to far-right groups into the debate, after PCP and BE requested the executive to correct the omission of these threats in the final version of the 2024 National Internal Security Report (RASI).
