During the general debate on the State Budget for 2026 in the Assembly of the Republic, André Ventura questioned the Prime Minister, asking, “if he lives in this country,” asserting that Portugal is only a reference in terms of “negligence and disorder.”
The leader of Chega also queried the Government about whether the Portuguese can expect an increase in fuel prices next year, alleging that “Spaniards told the European Commission to take a walk” regarding the end of the ISP discount and the update of the carbon tax.
“I live in Portugal, I walk in the street, and I do not long for the Portugal of over 51 years ago, I do not,” stated Luís Montenegro in response.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the Spanish government’s president is not his “example or reference for public policy and country management.”
“If the deputy wishes to associate three Salazars with two Pedro Sánchez, that is his choice, but it is not mine,” he remarked.
At the end of the Prime Minister’s response, the Chega president once again requested the floor to defend the honor of his party, denying being “nostalgic for the previous regime.”
“I know that perhaps if we had one, two or three Salazars, there would be less corruption,” he argued, expressing “nostalgia for a time when those who governed respected Portugal.”
Subsequently, the Prime Minister contended that “dictatorship corrupts freedom and does not combat corruption; dictatorship is corruption itself,” receiving applause from various benches, including PS deputies.
“From my point of view, corruption is fought democratically; corruption is fought with strict respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens,” he added, emphasizing that he does not let himself “be corrupted in the way of thinking or acting” and believes that democracy holds “answers for all those who transgress.”
In his first intervention in the budgetary debate, Ventura stated that “the Government expects to collect an additional 187 million euros” through the tax on petroleum products, predicting that “either there will be a significant increase in diesel or gasoline consumption” or the executive will “extract money from the Portuguese next year.”
“There is no use in lowering the corporate tax if more taxes on fuels are extracted throughout the year,” he argued.
The issue of ISP has been highlighted by the Chega leader as one of the red lines to determine the party’s voting stance, which has not yet been disclosed.
The Chega leader also demanded the Prime Minister specifically outline what the budget “brings in terms of health,” arguing that it has been “nothing but disaster after disaster,” and insisted that the Government should place more focus on security forces and firefighters in this document.
In response, the Prime Minister assured that he looks “into the eyes of all Portuguese men and women, regardless of their condition or profession,” arguing that it is his “obligation” to provide better living conditions for all professional classes.
Montenegro further noted that the “instrumentalization of operatives, regardless of area, is not” his “way of acting politically.”
Regarding fuels, the Prime Minister emphasized that the State Budget for the coming year “does not increase a single tax.”
“At most, we may have to eliminate the discount due to European obligations,” he indicated, noting that this matter is not included in the proposal.
André Ventura accused the Prime Minister of “hiding the issue of fuels from the budget.”
[News updated at 16:40]
