Lisbon, Oct. 2, 2026 (Lusa) - The leader of the far-right Chega party said on Thursday that the leader of the Socialist Party (PS) had rendered the proposed 2027 State Budget ineffective by announcing their intention to abstain from the general debate, thereby relieving pressure on the government to negotiate.
«The PS has managed to render this State Budget useless. The government will now do as it sees fit, in whatever way it sees fit, and without addressing any of the people's fundamental concerns, because the PS, for purely political and party-political reasons, has chosen to give the government a sort of blank cheque on budgetary matters,» André Ventura said at a press conference at the party's national headquarters in Lisbon.
The issue stems from the fact that the PS Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, announced on Wednesday that he would propose to his party's national bodies that they abstain in the vote on the general principles of the proposed State Budget for 2027, thereby allowing it to proceed.
Describing this stance as «one of the greatest disasters in recent contemporary politics», the leader of Chega said that the decision allows the PSD/CDS-PP government «to fail to respond to the rise in fuel prices as it ought to» or to «shortcomings in the areas of security and home affairs».
André Ventura also stated that the €50 increase in the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly (CSI), announced today by the prime minister, «had been under negotiation to be much higher in the State Budget».
«Of course, with the PS saying it would approve it unconditionally, the increase ended up being much worse than it should have been. The result is the increase that the prime minister and the government prefer, without even needing to negotiate in parliament», he said.
André Ventura also said Carneiro «is now definitively tied to the government, as a partner, by endorsing a budget he does not yet know», accusing him of a «crutch vote» and urging voters to reflect on the matter.
«Voters must take responsibility here and realise what they are voting for and in what direction they are voting. What is the point of voting for a party that gives the government carte blanche to do as it pleases?» he asked.
He emphasised that Chega would table its proposed amendments to the document, listing areas such as healthcare, toll exemptions, pensions, education and internal security as some of the party's priorities.
André Ventura also commented on a report in the weekly newspaper *Expresso* and on SIC, which stated that the criminal investigation court had deemed the conduct of former President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa «not neutral,» but that the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Supreme Court had never found any suspicious evidence.
For the president of Chega, «it was important for the judiciary to provide an explanation» to the country as to why «the president's responsibility was not established in a case where his name was used, where his office was used, where his private residence was used and where his influence was utilised».
When asked about the agreement reached between Chega and the PSD to introduce, during the detailed debate, amendments to the government's proposal to revise the New Urban Tenancy Regime, André Ventura stated that the party's aim is to find a ‘balanced' solution between the government's initial proposal and the criticisms from the parliamentary left, taking into account the concerns of both tenants and landlords.
The leader of Chega justified the agreement by saying that if his party voted against it, the government would press ahead with the measures as part of the State Budget, risking their approval as presented.
ARL/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
