Lisbon, Nov. 27, 2026 (Lusa) - The socialist secretary-general said on Thursday that the country would enter a political crisis if it were not for the "responsibility of the PS" in making the State Budget for 2026 viable, evoking the 10 years of the 'geringonça' led at the time by António Costa.
"Were it not for the Socialist Party's sense of responsibility, Portugal would once again be plunging into a political crisis with unpredictable consequences," said José Luís Carneiro at the close of the budget debate, emphasising that he had put "the interests of the people and the country above all else".
According to the PS secretary-general, with his party's "responsible attitude" enabling the budget proposal to be passed through abstention, "the government has no excuse for not fulfilling everything it has committed to the Portuguese people".
"We therefore demand that the government fulfil its obligation: to keep the accounts it inherited from the PS in order and to comply with the RRP that the PS Government managed to bring to Portugal," he added.
Considering that the State Budget "has no credibility", Carneiro argued that this document "shows that the government has squandered the resources it inherited from the PS governments and therefore no longer has any answers".
"In this regard, I would like to mention the 10 years that passed yesterday since António Costa's first government took office and to salute all the political forces that, by making this government possible, demonstrated that there was an alternative policy to the austerity of the right," he said, in a reference to the geringonça.
Regarding the RRP, the socialist leader demanded that it "be implemented with total rigour and transparency" since "the signs are not good", asking that there be no "tricks or temptations to evade the scrutiny of the monitoring bodies" because he will reject any attempt to "transform speed into opacity".
"The warning is clear: we will take all necessary measures to ensure transparency and rigour in the application of public funds," he warned.
Reiterating the argument that "this is not the PS's budget" and that it is "lacking in ambition and content," Carneiro criticised that, "in just three years, the Government will completely squander the budgetary leeway it inherited."
"This government's so-called “accurate accounts” depend exclusively on local authorities and regions. In other words, on budgets that it does not know, does not approve and does not even decide on," he condemns, pointing to the lack of answers in health, housing and the rising cost of living for Portuguese families.
According to the PS leader, "the parties that support the Government", which he said were the "PSD, CDS and Chega", rejected the socialist proposals "for a structural increase in the lowest pensions and for a reduction in the cost of food products".
"Contrary to what the Minister of Labour said, if there is no new extraordinary increase in pensions, those with lower pensions will see a reduction in income in 2026," he criticised, lamenting that the same majority had room "to lower taxes on the profits of large companies".
For Carneiro, "this is a government that is weak with the strong and strong with the weak", also criticising the government's action on the economy because it "is losing competitiveness" and "its main drivers are stalling".
"The PS has an economic strategy for Portugal," he said, listing this same strategy based on nine axes so that "the economy grows more, generates more income and has more capable and solid companies".
The socialist leader emphasised that the party he leads "is not resigned" and does not "limit itself to criticism for criticism's sake", claiming to be "the only alternative to this policy".
JF/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
