“The proposed Plan and Budget for 2026 unmistakably confirms what is clear to all Azoreans: José Manuel Bolieiro’s governance has led the region into the largest cycle of indebtedness, imbalance, and external dependency in recent decades,” stated regional deputy Carlos Silva today.
The socialist, speaking at the opening of the regional budget debate for 2026 in the regional parliament in Horta, on Faial island, noted that this is the sixth document presented by the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition and the last “with significant expression” of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
“It was, therefore, the last opportunity to demonstrate strategic vision, execution capacity, and political responsibility. However, what the Government presents is a document marked by contradictions, lack of rigor, and an acknowledgment that the region is increasingly nearing austerity,” he said.
According to Carlos Silva, the region’s financial situation “is dangerously close to bankruptcy and is a result of “an increasing dependency on election-driven policies, lacking rigor, vision, and economic sustainability.”
After noting that autonomy “is not achieved with speeches,” but rather by “honoring commitments, paying on time, planning with rigor, and balancing public accounts,” he acknowledged that “none of this has been ensured.”
“And the conclusion is inevitable. The Azores will reach the end of 2026 more indebted—almost double that of 2020. More dependent, more unequal, more imbalanced, and less capable of meeting new challenges,” he stated.
Concluding his intervention, the socialist remarked that “this is not the future the Azoreans deserve.”
“This is merely the result of a governance that has lost direction, lost focus, and lost the ambition to transform the region. The truth is that with José Manuel Bolieiro in government, the region has become more indebted, chronically dependent, and on the brink of austerity,” he said.
The third Plan and Budget of the legislature foresee a total public investment of 1.191 billion euros, including 990.9 million euros directly from the Regional Government, which presented as its “major aim” the execution of community funds, particularly the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
Without a majority in the regional parliament, the coalition in the Azores government, comprising 26 parliamentarians (23 from the PSD, two from CDS-PP, and one from PPM), requires support from Chega (five seats) or the PS (23 seats) to ensure the documents are approved.
The final global vote on the documents is set to take place on Thursday or Friday.
The Azorean parliament is composed of 57 deputies, 23 from the PSD bench, another 23 from the PS, five from Chega, two from CDS-PP, one from IL, one from PAN, one from BE, and one from PPM.
