Carregal do Sal, Portugal, July 19, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Friday that he understood Socialist (PS) leader Pedro Nuno Santos's absence from the meeting on the next budget.
‘It is understandable that, if representation at the highest level is not possible, the leader of the opposition, as he is not the prime minister, should be replaced by someone with weight, his representative, and there should be occasions for the two of them to meet,’ Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told journalists.
At the end of the inauguration ceremony of the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum in Cabanas de Viriato, Carregal do Sal, in the district of Viseu, the president of Portugal spoke to journalists about the fact that the PS Secretary General, Pedro Nuno Santos, would not be attending today's meeting on the budget.
‘There are several moments when, unfortunately, the prime minister can't be there for health reasons, but it's essential that he recovers because next week he has a busy trip to Angola, lasting several days, and there's nothing worse than travelling abroad while sick,’ said the president.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also said that, regarding the meeting to prepare the budget, despite the prime minister's absence due to health reasons, ‘there was still a meeting’.
‘And I think it's important that there is a first contact, listening to the political parties, so that they can start saying what they think about the budget, but I think there will be many other meetings afterwards,’ he said.
Pedro Nuno Santos told journalists this morning, on his arrival in Cabanas de Viriato to attend the inauguration of the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum, that the PS would be present at the meeting.
‘The prime minister [Luís Montenegro] can't be there, so I'll be with him at the next opportunity. There's no drama, there's no problem,’ he said.
According to the PS secretary-general, ‘there is a good atmosphere and goodwill’.
‘The prime minister can't go for health reasons, which we obviously respect. We don't choose to have health problems. On the contrary, I've already had the opportunity to wish him well,’ he added, denying any “climate of tension”.
‘We all have to work,’ he concluded.
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