The Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (PS), Pedro Nuno Santos, accused the Democratic Alliance (AD) Government on Saturday of being an “incompetent government” that “governs for a minority.”
“Instability is a daily occurrence, and every day we hear about emergency services being closed. We have more emergency services closed today than before, and many more Portuguese citizens are without a family doctor,” he stated during a speech at the presentation of the PS’s electoral program. He emphasized that “the failure and incompetence of this Government are a paradigmatic example of the inability of the PSD and Luís Montenegro to govern”.
“They are an incompetent government and one that governs for a minority. The Socialist Party was created to govern for everyone. The PSD never was, and this short year is quite illustrative of that fact”, he remarked.
Recalling that the Democratic Alliance Government “has already adopted almost all of its policies” in the Housing area, Pedro Nuno Santos mentioned that the result has been “an acceleration in price increases, pushing the possibility of buying or renting a home further out of reach for the overwhelming majority of young Portuguese people.”
“They govern for a minority, for a minority of the young and the Portuguese population,” he said. “Incompetence and a government that governs for a minority are more than enough reasons not to renew trust in either Luís Montenegro or his Government”.
Pedro Nuno Santos also accused Luís Montenegro of “taking credit for an IRS reduction that had been decided by the previous government” in April 2024.
The socialist stressed that “evaluating the seriousness of a political leader is important because it reflects on how that government conducts itself.”
“We have never deceived anyone. We never claimed it would be easy to solve the problems in the National Health Service (SNS) or the lack of teachers in schools. But they promised because it is easy, when you do not have a serious relationship with the people, to make promises that will never be fulfilled”, he said.
Pedro Nuno Santos accused the AD Government of “manipulating statistical data to hide the failure of its policy” and of “using public money for political propaganda.”
“We all know how we got here. We are here because the Government decided to throw the country into elections. It wanted to trigger elections not only because Luís Montenegro exhausted his credibility, but also because his Government had exhausted its project for the country,” he stated.
The socialist claimed that currently there is a lack of “integrity in the Government leader and credibility in the Government’s purported project for Portugal.”
Follow Pedro Nuno Santos’s speech:
The Socialist Party (PS) presented on Saturday the electoral program ‘A New Impulse for Portugal’ for the May 18 legislative elections.
The measures announced include the allocation of a 500-euro savings account in treasury certificates for children born from 2025, permanent zero VAT on a basket of essential food items, an annual increase in the national minimum wage, and a phased reduction in the workweek.
The Socialist Party is presenting the electoral program ‘A New Impulse for Portugal’ for the legislative elections.
Notícias ao Minuto with Lusa | 16:25 – 05/04/2025
[Updated at 5:29 PM]
