ZAP//Bottelho/Wikimedia//Paulo Novais / Lusa
“I have no problem saying that the current Government is a ‘Sá Carneirista’ Government”. Prime Minister made a point of explaining and President said it was true.
The Prime Minister and leader of the PSD, Luís Montenegro, stated this Thursday that the Government and its leadership are “Sá Carneiristas”indicating that it follows the values of the founder of the PPD, including free enterprise.
“Yes, this current government, the 25th Constitutional Government, is a ‘Sá Caneirista’ government, yes, the PSD leadership is a ‘Sá Caneirista’ leadership and it is ‘Sá Caneirista’ in what is the core, the foundation, the center, the heart of our political soul”, he highlighted.
Luís Montenegro was speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition “Francisco Sá Carneiro and the Construction of Portuguese Democracy”, organized by the Ephemera Archive, which can be visited until January 31, 2026, in Lisbon. The Prime Minister said that he is “very inspired by the founding values of Sá Carneiro’s political intervention” in his legacy and values.
Luís Montenegro admitted that this consideration could be considered “provocative, controversial”, but he was “available to discuss” his position regarding Sá Carneiro “with whatever”.
“I have no problem saying that the current Government is a ‘Sá Carneirista’ Government, Sá Carneirista in all its expression, in all its instinct and in all its way of understanding Portuguese society, of intervention in Portuguese society, of transformation of Portuguese society, to fulfill its ultimate purpose, which is the improvement of the living conditions and well-being of each person”, he explained.
The social democratic leader pointed out that the circumstances historical, political, national and international reality, as well as the European context are “radically different”but the current Government has “the same spirit, the same inspiration”.
“The inspiration of those who count on all the forces of society to create, generate more wealth, of those who believe that in the free initiative of people and their institutions arises the root of social and economic intervention that is a generator of wealth, of economy, of economic strength that enables the political decision-maker to pursue social policies that leave no one behind and that value the individual condition of each human being, of each woman and each man, which meet what is the greatest purpose of a politician, which is to give each human being an opportunity of him being what he wants”, he maintained.
“The politician that we see in Sá Carneiro and who we draw inspiration from today to translate into our action in terms of thought is the politician who doesn’t want to force anyone to be what they don’t want to be, who doesn’t want to impose anything on anyone, but wants to give everyone the tools to be what they want. And then everyone is what they want through the use they make of the instruments they have at their disposal”, he defended.
Montenegro considered that this “is the root of Sá Carneiro’s thinking” and the “root of Portuguese-style social democratic thinking”, between “socialism and a more rigid conservatism, between the center-left and the center-right, which Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa invoked so many times and even long before he was President of the Republic, as the space for intervention of the PPD-PSD spectrum”.
“Impossible missions”
The President of the Republic also spoke and stated that the former prime minister and founder of the PSD liked “impossible missions” and compared him to Luís Montenegro in this aspect.
“The great theorists of Portuguese political analysis” said at the time that the PPD would not “survive, because it had no political space to survive”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was also present at the founding of the party: “the PPD was considered an impossible party”, but “those who were on the ground knew that it was a possible party, because it was very different”.
The President of the Republic highlighted that Francisco Sá Carneiro “liked impossible missions” and “conquered the PSD space by force”. “I think the prime minister likes it too”he pointed out.
The President of the Republic also took the opportunity to comment on the previous intervention by the Prime Minister, who considered that the current Government is “Sá Carneirista”.
“The Prime Minister took the opportunity to naturally talk about the Government, current affairs, the relevance of Sá Carneiro’s message, how he is Sá Carneiro’s qualified successor, which really and truth”, stated the head of state.
Marcelo also said he agreed with Luís Montenegro that, “after a long government from another hemisphere, it was necessary to recreate the party, and to recreate the party, the memory of Sá Carneiro is a good start”.
The President of the Republic remembered Francisco Sá Carneiro as a “man of unlimited courage”, a “meteoric figure”, who had the ability to anticipate events, and thanked him “for having existed and having been as he was”.
“He was a reality, a unique and unrepeatable. No one else lived in such a short time, so much in the creation of Portuguese democracy. And, by extension, thank, as President of the Portuguese Republic, the party he created, which, like the other party in the original matrix of parties, the PS, were essential in the creation of democracy”, he highlighted.
The head of state also stated that Sá Carneiro was “anti-Salazarist” until “the end of his life”.
