Antônio Cotrim / LUSA
PS deputies during debate in the Assembly of the Republic
In other times, socialist deputies “in an exalted manner” defended José Sócrates, whose executive “led the country to bankruptcy”.
The PSD parliamentary leader recalled that they mark themselves 15 years from request for external financial assistance made by the Government of Joseph Socrates and the prime minister pointed out that António Costa formed an executive after losing elections.
These two cycles of socialist governments, between 205 and 2011 and between 2015 and 2024, were brought to fortnightly debate in parliament first by Hugo Soares and then by Luís Montenegro.
In an intervention that generated many protests on the socialist bench, Hugo Soares pointed the finger at PS leaders who defended at that time, “in an exalted way”, José Sócrateswhose executive “led the country to bankruptcy”.
According to the PSD parliamentary leader, a period of lesson in terms of management of public finances: Every time a proposal is approved that increases expenses and cuts revenue, “it is the Portuguese who end up paying”.
Next, with a more leisurely tone of speech, Luís Montenegro also referred to the legacy left by José Sócrates’ two governments. And he even began by observing that Hugo Soares did not live through those times as a politician and that, since then, there has been some democratic renewal on the PS bench.
“You don’t need to address the PT bench, or any deputy in particular, and remember the effusive way in which this bench – the deputies who are still here from that time are few – defended governance tooth and nail, not just for eight years [de António Costa]like these seven years [de José Sócrates] between 2005 and 2011”, he said.
From the prime minister’s perspective, the PS deputies, “today, are much less energetic in defending their party’s policies than they were at the time.”
“At the time, I was sitting on the PSDB bench and I remember it well: There were indeed a lot, but more effusive in defense of the virtualities of that governance”, he maintained.
Coast and tradition
Following these references to the period of José Sócrates, Luís Montenegro referred to the period of the governments of Antonio Costa, highlighting that this former socialist leader and current president of the European Council formed Government after losing the elections legislative elections in 2015, defeated by Pedro Passos Coelho’s PSD/CDS coalition.
Because of this previous period of José Sócrates, according to the prime minister, “later”, in 2015, the PS “coexisted very badly with the functioning of the traditions of Portuguese democracy”.
“The tradition, in particular – the one that was the first of all –, according to which the parties or the party that wins the elections were given the ability to carry out their program” in the Government, he specified.
Given the shape negative and even noisy As deputies reacted to Hugo Soares’ previous speech, the Prime Minister commented that this reaction was expected from the socialists.
“Mr Hugo Soares, you don’t need to be too bothered by the comments from the PS bench, because, I believe, this is still a reflection of some weight on your conscience regarding the results of these government cycles, in particular the first one” by José Sócrates, he maintained.
Two years of Government
Both the president of the PSD bench and the prime minister also took advantage of this period of debate to defend the results of two years of governments led by Luís Montenegro.
Hugo Soares argued that if the previous cycle of socialist governance com “maximum taxes and minimum public services”.
The Prime Minister chose to highlight the challenges posed by the current international situation, above all, as a result of the war in the Middle East.
“The effort we made these two years, the bases and foundations we built for the future are the guarantee we have today to be able to face moments of greater adversity like those we are facing now”, he declared.
Luís Montenegro then pointed out that, “after the train storms that reached the national continental territory”, there is now a situation of “increasing instability in the Middle East, with direct effects on fuel prices”.
“And, because of this, there is the possibility of having an inflationary movement that effectively affects families and companies. However, it is because we have followed this path and are well supported that we will help families, people and companies to overcome this situation”, he promised.
