The government’s latest program document includes measures originating from various opposition parties. The program claims to encompass 16 contributions from IL, six from Livre, two each from PCP and PAN, alongside one from BE and another from JPP.
Last year, the first PSD/CDS-PP administration under Luís Montenegro’s leadership already claimed the integration of 60 opposition measures into its agenda.
Following the recent Council of Ministers’ approval for the XXV Constitutional Government, Presidency Minister António Leitão Amaro previously indicated the inclusion of opposition measures in the new program, promising more details, which have now been revealed.
Among the 25 Socialist Party measures reportedly adopted, key highlights include reducing business context costs through a fee rationalization program, infrastructure proposals, and initiatives in science and innovation, such as annual PhD grants in all scientific fields and restructuring the Foundation for Science and Technology.
Additional measures from the Socialist Party involve administrative simplification, expanding continued care offerings, and introducing a new cultural patronage statute, an idea also endorsed in the previous term by AD, all of which the government plans to debate in parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Proposals credited to Chega include enhancing child protection mechanisms in domestic violence situations, expanding housing support beneficiary lists, and universal free school textbooks for all compulsory education students, “regardless of attending public, private, or cooperative institutions.”
The government has also incorporated several security and immigration policies suggested by André Ventura’s party, including “zero tolerance for school indiscipline and violence,” ensuring security forces have adequate resources to combat illegal immigration, increasing penalties for human trafficking and illegal immigration support crimes, and introducing the Bom Regresso program for those wishing to return to their home country but unable to do so.
From IL, the government’s program absorbs administrative simplification measures like eliminating redundancies via smart data sharing across services, a postgraduate nursing education model, simplified electoral campaigning accounting rules, and mobile signal inhibitors in all prisons, previously advocated by the current Justice Minister.
Additional liberal-inspired measures include restructuring rent support programs, allowing workers the option to receive vacation and Christmas subsidies in installments, and opening waste management to private entities with complementary operations.
The executive asserts gathering contributions from Livre in tackling child poverty and active aging, as well as integrating specialized artistic education of music, theater, and dance into the public education network.
From PCP, the government’s program reportedly adopts a focus on “developing productive capacity, innovation, quality, and competitiveness in the canning industry” and prioritizing diversifying primary energy sources. Meanwhile, the BE proposal for “more renewable electricity and an energy efficiency program in housing” has also been incorporated.
According to the government, PAN’s ideas on enhancing national legislation for the protection and conservation of the Iberian wolf and investing in monitoring underground water bodies’ ecological state have been adopted, while from JPP, the proposal to establish a ferry line connecting autonomous regions with the mainland for goods and passenger transport has been included.
[Updated at 16:19]
