The leader of Chega warned the Government this Tuesday that the PS’s implementation of State Budgets had poor results and said he hoped this year would not affect negotiations with his party. “The PS also made the document viable [OE2025] and the Government fell a few months later. This is a political choice, it is a political path”, warned the leader of Chega, arguing that “it did not give good results in other years”, stated Ventura andm statements to journalists before a meeting with his parliamentary group, at the Assembly of the Republic.
Ventura guaranteed that “Chega does not sell votes” and considered that if the PS “understands that doing politics means not even looking at the document and saying that it will make it viable, it is a way of doing politics” and will have to “respond to its voters”.
“I think PS voters and supporters are not grateful, because when it comes to people’s salaries, when it comes to people’s health, when it comes to the fight against corruption, when it comes to fuel prices, we have a party that says ‘do what you want, we are in favor’, people ask themselves, so what are they for, then what exactly are they for doing? If they are not used to make our lives better and easier, if they are not used to approve measures that favor us, what are politicians for?” he highlighted.
Ventura sent the announcement of the Chega bench’s voting direction to a later date and lamented that “AD’s budgets often look more like PS’s budgets”. “Later on, the vote will be announced, but the Chega will take a critical approach to this document in some fundamental areasone of them the issue of fuel, which for us is decisive, but also issues related to health and Social Security and where we hope that the Government can still intervene in order to change something before starting the general debate that takes place next week”, he stated, repeating arguments that have been using.
The president of Chega said that there is “no permanent bridge of contact” with the Governmentbut indicated that he expects the executive to be open to negotiating the 2026 OE. Adsaid that the party is preparing “hundreds of amendment proposals”. Chega wants a permanent increase in pensions and “cuts in subsidies”, and refuses increases in fuel prices.
“We are not proposing anything to the Government that will destroy the budget, that will brutally increase the public debt. We are proposing sensible measures that, in fact, had already been pre-agreed in the context of what was a certain approximation that occurred when, for example, we decided to lower the IRS for those who earn less, which was proposed by Chega, and there was a path that has already been taken here”.
“I hope that this path continues and that the Government, like the PS changed its position or anticipated a position, forgets everything it promised people. I think this is not a good political sign, we saw last year that it is not a good political sign”, he defended.
André Ventura also commented on the PS proposal that the extra balance in the Social Security budget be used to permanently increase the lowest pensions.
“The PS says it will use the balance to increase the level of pensions, but it doesn’t tell us what increase it wants in these pensions, it doesn’t tell us what impact this would have on the Social Security budget balance”, he criticized.