The XXV Constitutional Government’s Program was submitted on Saturday to the Assembly of the Republic following approval by the Council of Ministers. Discussion of the document is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, and reactions are already emerging across the political spectrum from the Left to the Right.
The document outlines 10 priority areas, pledging “an income policy that values work and savings, merit, and social justice,” state reform, as well as “wealth creation, economic acceleration, and increased added value.”
Other key priorities include “regulated and humane immigration,” ensuring the “quality” of public services, enhancing “security that is closer to citizens, faster justice, and fighting corruption,” housing, new infrastructure projects, the “water that unites” initiative, and a “strategic defense investment reinforcement plan.”
Get the reactions from Left to Right:
Following the delivery of the Program by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Carlos Abreu Amorim, Chega leader André Ventura quickly expressed his opinion, stating it “lacks any truly innovative ideas.”
“The Government’s Program presented today in the Assembly of the Republic lacks any truly innovative ideas. Worse: it shows a lack of ambition and courage to change what has been wrong in the country for decades. We need much more!”, Ventura wrote on social media platform X.
O Programa de Governo hoje apresentado na Assembleia da República não tem, na verdade, nenhuma ideia inovadora a orientá-lo. Pior: nota-se a falta de ambição e de coragem para mudar aquilo que está errado no país há tantas décadas. Precisamos de muito mais!
— André Ventura (@AndreCVentura) June 14, 2025
From the Left, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) Secretary-General Paulo Raimundo labeled it a “program of propaganda and deals.”
“This is the program that supports the policy of deals and schemes to extract resources from the state, which translates into taking from each one of us to hand over to those who see themselves as the country’s owners”, said Paulo Raimundo during a regional CDU gathering in Estarreja, Aveiro district.
In his speech, the communist leader mentioned that the legislative election results created conditions to accentuate the politics of inequalities and exploitation, with the Government Program as an example, stating that, as warned by the communists, it is “a program of propaganda, a business program, and of deals.”
PAN spokesperson Inês Sousa Real criticized the Government Program for removing measures she regards as “basic social justice,” such as subsidies for social energy tariffs and family allowance.
The Left Bloc (BE) coordinator Mariana Mortágua stated that the social-democratic Government Program lowers taxes for big businesses and fortunes while the middle class pays more for education, health, and public services.
“The Government will reduce taxes for big businesses and large fortunes, making them richer to buy more properties for rent”, she said, “which will drain all the salary of a middle class that no longer has leftover wages by month-end,” she noted.
In the document, the government led by Luís Montenegro reiterated a promise of dialogue with the opposition. Reacting to this stance, Socialist Party (PS) leadership candidate José Luís Carneiro argued that the Government needs to choose who to engage in dialogue with.
“There are values and principles we can never relinquish. (…) We will therefore wait for government respect and recognition that they must choose dialogue partners,” stated José Luís Carneiro. “[The dialogue] cannot be with some on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and with others on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”
Also, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, a 2026 presidential candidate, responded positively to the Government Program, describing it as “reformist and future-oriented.”
“I am pleased because it is a Government [Program] that is reformist and focused on the future. However, there is a great gap from program to execution that needs to be bridged”, Gouveia e Melo remarked during a visit to the Feira do Campo Alentejano in Beja district.
It should be noted that the PCP has announced a motion to reject the Government Program, but the initiative will likely face defeat, as it lacks support from PSD, CDS, Chega, and PS.
