Ultimatum to AD, solutions for the cost of living, Montenegro “on its knees”. The 25th PS Congress

“If the Government chooses winds, there will be storms”, warned José Luís Carneiro. But it was Iratxe Garcia who “knelt” Luís Montenegro.

The 25th National Congress of the Socialist Party (PS) began this Friday, which began in Viseu, with the party’s general secretary, José Luís Carneiro, opening the main meeting with a completed to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the Democratic Alliance (AD).

The socialist general secretary demanded that the ruling coalition “let it be decided” and clarify whether you want “moderate convergences” with the PS or agreements with Chega, warning that you will say a “resound no” to attempts to unbalance the Constitutional Court: “if the Government chooses winds, there will be storms”.

Although many have questioned the “future” of the party, Carneiro considered that the Socialists are “very much alive”.

“About eight months ago I took over the leadership of our party in a difficult context. In a very difficult context. At a time when many were questioning our future. At a time when many were determining our decline. After all, we are alive. And very much alive!”, he assured.

Either Enough, or moderation

For the secretary general of the PS, the Government of Luís Montenegro has to decide whether it wants to make agreements with Chega or whether it prefers to “open up to moderate convergences” with the PS.

“There are lines that cannot be negotiated. The Constitution is not relativized. Democracy is not instrumentalized. If they try to disfigure the balance of our democratic system, starting by trying to unbalance the STF, they will hear a resounding no from us”, he warned, in reference to the impasse for external bodies.

According to Carneiro, this will not be done “out of partisan calculation”, but “out of duty, out of democratic imperative”.

Parliament’s external bodies: dialogue continues

Carneiro stated that the dialogue with the PSD for the election of the external bodies of the Assembly of the Republic is maintained and asked for reserve in the negotiations. He hopes that “this dialogue can result positively in what is fundamental to the life of the country”.

Regarding whether this dialogue means that the PS will be included in an agreement, Carneiro reiterated that this is a time for dialogue and defended “a certain reservation”.

“It means that we are in dialogue, I am in dialogue with you, the parliamentary leaders are in dialogue, everyone is in dialogue. Now what we discuss, as a rule, we have to maintain a certain reserve”, he stressed, in an allusion to the negotiations of names for bodies such as the Ombudsman’s Office, Council of State or Constitutional Court.

The prime minister and leader of the PSD said that the AD has been negotiating the matter of the parliament’s external bodies either “with the left bloc or with the right bloc”, without confirming an agreement with Chega.

The president of Chega has said he has guarantees that there will be two names nominated by the PSD and one by his party for judges for the Constitutional Court, which has neither been confirmed nor denied by the Social Democrats.

4 proposals to respond to the increase in the cost of living

The PS general secretary later proposed Zero VAT on essential foods and the reduction of this tax to 13% on gas and fuelsaccusing the Government of acting in an “insufficient and incomplete” manner.

“We must not ignore or delay responses while the effects of war persist [no Médio Oriente]”, warned José Luís Carneiro.

After a Council of Ministers dedicated to the topic, Carneiro sought to pressure the Government, considering that “the measures that the Government takes are always insufficient and reach people late”.

The socialist leader put forward four proposals: zero VAT on essential food products, the reduction from 23% to 13% in VAT on fuel and gas, and the doubling of taxed energy consumption by 6%. Carneiro also proposed exemption from ISP on diesel for agriculture.

These proposals, according to the socialist leader, “do not jeopardize budgetary stability and alleviate the costs of living for families”.

“Whoever copies the extreme right…”

The president of the Parliamentary Group of Socialists (S&D) in the European Parliament, Iratxe Garciaaccused the Portuguese Prime Minister of “kneeling to the extreme right“, warning that “those who copy the extreme right end up being devoured by it”.

In a speech at the opening ceremony of the 25th PS Congress, in Viseu, the Spanish MEP, who leads the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, began by stating that the PS secretary general, José Luís Carneiro, is the “right person to lead the party” and will take the socialists back to the Government.

“And he will govern to serve the majority, not the interests of a few. Because that is the essence of our project”, he added, arguing that this project “once again demonstrated its strength with the victory of António José Seguro in the presidential elections.”

For Iratxe Garcia, Seguro’s victory “is not just an electoral victory, it is a moral victory” and a victory for an open, pro-European, supportive Portugal and “against the closed, isolated and reactionary Portugal of the extreme right”.

The MEP criticized the Portuguese right-wing project and the current Government, stating that the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, is a leader “without credibility in Europe, without initiative and without a voice” and which fails in essential aspects, such as “defending international law in the face of an illegal war that should never have started”.

“Meanwhile, if we look closely, other progressive leaders, such as Pedro Sánchez and António Costa, clearly defended peace and international law. The Government of Montenegro chose silence and irrelevance”shot.

Iratxe Garcia added that the executive’s problem is not only international, but also national, with the lack of measures for “families suffering from inflation and the increase in life expectancy” and a polarizing policy.

The socialist argued that Montenegro, instead of solving problems, “creates enemies, attacking those who are different” such as immigrants and trans people and, instead of leading, chooses to “kneel to the extreme right”.

“The right has surrendered to the rhetoric of the extreme right. And history, my friends, is clear. Those who copy the extreme right end up being devoured by it”, he shot.