Lisbon, April 24, 2026 (Lusa) – The PS (Socialist Party) Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, has said that stability must be an "achievement" of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, promising that the PS would treat the government with reciprocity, saying that his party would not tolerate being provoked or disregarded.
In an interview with Lusa, the PS leader said that the 2027 Portuguese state budget was still a long way off and that he would wait for the government's position, warning about stability and the executive's relationship with his party, announcing an end to the practice of sending formal letters to the prime minister.
“Stability must be an achievement of the prime minister and the government because the prime minister knows the composition of parliament.”
He knows he cannot ignore it. He has a duty to respect it and to build political stability from within parliament,” he said.
In Carneiro's view, this outcome depended more on Luís Montenegro than on the opposition parties.
“The prime minister cannot constantly rely on the PS’s strong sense of responsibility to get his budgets through when the time comes.”
“Therefore, it is up to him to work toward building credibility and trust. Which has not been happening, it must be said,” he added.
Addressing the expectations surrounding the party’s relationship with the government following the PS congress, Carneiro denied any inconsistency between the beginning and the end”.
“The PS will act in accordance with the government’s actions.”
“In other words, if the government provokes the PS, if it disregards the PS, what response can it expect? The same disregard for any channels of dialogue that may be established,” he said.
He also said that it would be a different matter if Luís Montenegro’s government were to respect the PS and engage in dialogue with it, saying that, in that scenario, the Socialists would have a duty to respond institutionally to such a call for dialogue.
He criticised the government for acting erratically, which he claimed did nothing to build even the slightest foundation of trust in its approach, saying that the administration had left the country in a worse state, with citizens seeing their lives regress.
He thereby reiterated his previous criticisms of the government’s response to various national problems, specifically the crisis caused by the war in Iran.
Regarding the 2027 state budget, he said it was still a long way off and that it was necessary to see the government’s proposal and consult the views of the PS's internal bodies at the appropriate time.
“We will wait for the government’s own position.”
“It is still early days. Everything in its own time,” he added.
Regarding the format of any potential negotiations, specifically whether they would occur before the proposal is submitted or only after the government has presented it to parliament, Carneiro refused to rule out any scenarios.
“My primary responsibility is to answer the country and to assess whether the state budget proposal meets the country’s needs,” he said.
Acknowledging that the budget was neither the "be-all nor the end-all" of politics, he cited Jorge Sampaio’s (former president of Portugal) famous remark that there was more to life than the budget.
“The budget is an instrument that may not be passed the first time round, but may be resubmitted a second time and subsequently approved.”
“But it requires the government to negotiate with parliament”, he said.
Since taking the helm of the party, he has frequently sent formal letters to the prime minister on various topics, saying he has found this to be a way to break through the communication barrier regarding the party’s proposals.
He declared that this method had now ended, anticipating that the PS’s proposals would henceforth be presented in parliament or during press conferences, and said there had been a lack of basic institutional courtesy on the government's part in replying to those letters.
JF/MYAL // ADB.
Lusa
