“The lack of seriousness of the AD Government knows no bounds. This Government, amid an electoral campaign, uses public money and resources for campaigning. The spectacle we are witnessing in São Bento today is unacceptable,” stated Pedro Nuno Santos during a campaign lunch in Ponta Delgada, Azores, ahead of the elections on the 18th.
The socialist leader referred to the event “São Bento in Family,” which resulted from the postponement, due to the death of Pope Francis, of the 25th of April celebratory moments initially planned for the official residence of the Prime Minister.
Pedro Nuno Santos criticized the behavior of Luís Montenegro, who participated in a performance with Tony Carreira, accusing the AD of showing no respect for the 25th of April.
The PS Secretary-General likened the event’s name to the TV program “Family Conversations,” hosted by Marcelo Caetano during the Estado Novo regime.
“We have a Government that is not serious and has no shame in how it interacts with the people,” he reiterated.
The socialist identified various examples of the Government’s “lack of seriousness,” such as the announcement of an IRS reduction at the beginning of the legislature or changes to the withholding tax tables.
Pedro Nuno Santos once again labeled Luís Montenegro as the “main factor of political instability” due to cases that “personally involve” the Prime Minister.
“If Luís Montenegro were to win, which will not happen, we would continue to experience political instability, and in the slightest squeeze, he would do what he did by calling the country to elections,” he emphasized.
The PS Secretary-General praised the role of the elderly and women, highlighting the importance of “governing for all,” and stressed that the party intends to “reduce taxes for all families and not just a minority.”
“We want to focus the tax effort on reducing VAT to zero for food products. To zero,” he insisted.
During his visit to the Azores, Pedro Nuno Santos advocated for the revision of the Regional Finance Law and Public Service Obligations and the creation of a strategy to combat dependencies.
“We want to define maritime policy with the Azores and the Azoreans,” he added.
Francisco César, leader of PS/Azores and head of the list in the archipelago, assured that socialist deputies would not deviate from regional interests and appealed for a useful vote “without beating around the bush.”
“Livre, BE, PAN, and CDU, as we all know, are far from electing a deputy in the Azores. Voting for PS in the Azores and not those parties is the vote that counts. It is the vote that can make a difference. It is a single vote that can prevent Chega’s election,” he warned.
In the March 2024 elections, the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition won in the Azorean electoral circle, with 39.84% of the votes out of 106,273 voters, electing two deputies, followed by PS with 29.18% and two deputies, and Chega with 15.76% of the votes, with one deputy (Miguel Arruda, who became independent due to suspicion of stealing luggage at airports).
