Filipe Amorim / LUSA
Luis Montenegro welcomes José Luis Carneiro
Several PSD leaders recognize the pressure that Carneiro is under within the PS to be tougher on the Government, but do not believe that the socialist leader will fail the Budget.
Despite the tense climate with the PS surrounding the appointments to the Constitutional Court and the threat from José Luís Carneirothe PSD believes that the scenario of a total rupture remains unlikely.
At the end of the socialist congress in Viseu, Carneiro promised a firmer opposition to the Government and warned that Luís Montenegro is sowing winds and risks reaping “storms”. However, the PSD’s top figures think it’s all a bluff and that Aries won’t take risks throw the country into a political crisis.
In statements to , Gonçalo MatiasDeputy Minister and State Reform, recognizes that the Government is in a fragile position for being a minority, but highlighted the recent warnings from António José Seguro, who does not want the legislature to be aborted early.
“It would be very irresponsible of the PS. I don’t believe he is at that level of irresponsibility. In fact, just listen to what the President of the Republic said and I think this is very clear regarding the position that the PS should have in governance. The President of the Republic spoke of a three-year cycle without elections. Anyone who doesn’t allow it would be very irresponsible. And I would have to take responsibility for that decision”, he says.
Despite this speech of stability, doubts persist within the PSD about José Luís Carneiro’s decision. The socialist leader is under a lot of internal pressure, with different voices in the party defending divergent strategies. Duarte Cordeiro, for example, has already said he disagrees with using the OE as a weapon to pressure the Government, while Fernando Medina and Augusto Santos Silva consider that do not have an obligation to facilitate per proposal.
“José Luís Carneiro has an authority problem in the party. It is under a lot of pressure to be tougher on the Government. And that can be a problem. You could make a very serious mistake“, says a social democratic leader to the Observer.
Due to these fears, the PSD recognizes that it is necessary give in to some PS demandsparticularly in the reform of Justice, to avoid cornering the socialist leadership.
Meanwhile, immediate dossiers such as the Nationality Law and the choice of judges for the Constitutional Court emerge as decisive tests of the relationship between the two parties before the final hour of the State Budget.
