During the closing session of the debate on the State Budget for 2026 in parliament, Hugo Soares praised the PS’s sense of responsibility for abstaining and thus enabling the document, while questioning the socialists’ motivation.
“Whether it’s a tactic or in the national interest, time will tell,” he stated.
However, the PSD parliamentary leader used the closing session to criticize aspects of several previous party interventions.
Firstly, Hugo Soares questioned Rui Tavares, from Livre, and José Luís Carneiro, from PS, accusing the Government of squandering the budget surplus.
“Is it squandering money on restoring service time for teachers? On the extraordinary increase in pensions for retirees with lower pensions? On the risk allowance for the PSP and GNR? On valuing 21 careers in administration?” he asked.
He then responded to the accusation from Chega leader André Ventura that the Government had already created dozens of working groups.
“Do you know how many working groups proposed by MP André Ventura and Chega were approved in the 2025 Budget? About 40,” he accused, adding that the only VAT reduced in the 2026 proposal was by agreement between Chega and PS for “luxury artworks.”
Finally, he focused on the end of tolls on several highways, approved in detail with votes from PS and Chega, against AD’s wishes.
“Highways will continue to be paid for, but this time they won’t be paid by those who use them; they’ll be paid by everyone through our taxes, whether you have a car or not, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you’ve ever been there or never wanted to go,” he criticized.
“The rich pay, the poor pay, those with cars pay, those who ride scooters pay; all Portuguese pay for the populism of Chega and the Socialist Party through their taxes,” he added.
In the closing session of the debate on the State Budget for 2026, Hugo Soares highlighted that 70 opposition proposals were approved and assured that his bench’s commitment to dialogue and solutions is not mere rhetoric.
“Let’s finally end the political tantrums that infantilize democracy. Let’s leave behind the bitterness that does nothing to improve the lives of the Portuguese. I repeat: let’s abandon ideological blindness, what matters are the Portuguese,” he said.
Hugo Soares argued that “nobody is a radical right-winger for addressing immigration chaos,” stating that the PSD/CDS-PP government took regulation measures in this sector “out of responsibility and humanitarianism.”
“And nobody is a dangerous leftist for increasing the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly three times in a row — that’s social justice,” he countered.
The deputy and also the secretary-general of the PSD took the opportunity to make a direct appeal to the two largest opposition parties, Chega and PS.
“Don’t lock yourselves in ideology. Don’t hide behind tantrums. Where some can be, we can all be. Where the national interest is, we all fit,” he appealed.
“Portugal is better, but so are the Portuguese,” he stated in a nod to the phrase of the now PSD leader, Luís Montenegro, during the troika period, when he asserted that the country was better, but the Portuguese were not yet feeling those benefits.
The social-democratic leader emphasized that the AD government (PSD/CDS-PP) is presenting, for the second consecutive year, a Budget that does not increase a single tax.
“AD Government. Two Budgets. Zero tax increases. This has never happened in Portuguese democratic history,” he stated, stressing that it is a document of “fair accounts”, which “reduces debt, has no deficit, and predicts a surplus.”
