The positions were asserted during the only head-to-head debate between Luís Montenegro and Pedro Nuno Santos before the snap legislative elections scheduled for May 18, which was simultaneously broadcast by RTP, SIC, and TVI.
Pedro Nuno Santos pledged to disband the working group “created for the privatization of Social Security” if elected, a move immediately challenged by the Prime Minister.
“So, Dr. Pedro Nuno Santos is upset because the government I lead is studying what the government he was part of initiated? There are no limits to his demagogic, distorted use of political arguments. We are merely analyzing the conclusions of the study he requested,” he remarked.
Montenegro reaffirmed his commitment that a potential PSD/CDS-PP executive will not make “any changes to the Social Security system in this legislature.”
“And if I, as PSD leader or head of government, ever have to propose it to the country, it will be based on an electoral decision,” he added.
Responding, the PS leader expressed skepticism that the study’s conclusions could differ from what he described as AD’s long-standing project: “the partial privatization of the public pension system.”
“What Luís Montenegro tells us here is that he agrees with the change. He just doesn’t have the courage to implement it in this election,” he said, amid the Prime Minister’s protests, who repeated, “This is not serious.”
In housing policy, the PS and PSD leaders were mostly in disagreement, aligning only on the need to boost construction. They disagreed on other points, particularly Pedro Nuno Santos’s proposal to use part of Caixa Geral de Depósitos’ dividends for this purpose.
“Today, we are still paying for the disinvestment in housing caused by the ideas brought by Dr. Pedro Nuno Santos, just as he couldn’t ensure funding,” criticized the Prime Minister.
Addressing Pedro Nuno Santos’s claims that the government is failing to pay rent support on time, Montenegro acknowledged issues but attributed them to the removal of “certain criteria that excluded young people, such as a maximum rent cap.”
Concerning young people, the PS leader accused the current government of “giving with one hand and taking away with the other,” alleging the AD executive plans to unfreeze tuition fees, a claim not refuted by the Prime Minister.
“Young people are prioritized only for the campaign. In reality, in crucial areas like housing, higher education courses, and returning tuition costs, the AD government has not delivered,” Pedro Nuno Santos accused.
In response, Montenegro seized the opportunity to return an accusation often directed at him, of “governing only for some,” back to the PS.
“The sub-23 free pass on public transport and reduced IRS rates were only for students, not all young people as they are now. We govern for everyone,” he stated, with Pedro Nuno Santos insisting that measures such as tax exemptions and public guarantees for first home purchases don’t reach the majority of young people.
