“I believe we have more favorable conditions this year, let’s say, to reach political consensus than last year. There’s a different attitude, at least, certain elements have already been agreed upon, both politically and fiscally,” he stated.
Speaking to journalists, André Ventura expressed that “a more favorable starting point exists” now although “it doesn’t always mean there will be a more favorable endpoint.”
“It now depends on the Government’s attitude, whether it truly wants to engage earnestly in negotiations, work, and building alternatives to previous socialist policies, or if it will merely pretend to negotiate to victimize itself again, as it attempted to do in the last State Budget to provoke elections,” he suggested.
“I think we have all the conditions to arrive at a solution. What’s needed is for the Government to genuinely want that solution,” he emphasized.
Pointing out that “only two possible majorities exist,” the president of Chega remarked that it is up to the Government to choose between PS or Chega as a preferred partner.
“I also believe negotiations shouldn’t be conducted under ultimatums and with threats on the table,” he argued, adding that Chega will not “engage in tantrums, unlike the PS secretary-general.”
The president of Chega suggested that “Luís Montenegro already understands that elections may not be very favorable for him” and that “people want politicians to work, not provoke consecutive elections.”
“I honestly believe it wouldn’t be good for anyone, neither for the Government, the opposition, the major opposition parties, nor the presidential candidates, to generate a budget crisis in October or November. I sincerely think that would not benefit anyone and, above all, it wouldn’t be good for the country, as it would be stalled for several months,” he noted.
On Sunday, the president of the PSD and the Prime Minister anticipated that the discussion of the next State Budget will be “relatively simple,” but warned the opposition that the Government will not negotiate under ultimatums or red lines.
