OE2027: PS abstains to avoid “political precipice”

“ Nit is not the budget that the Socialist Party, or a government of the PS, would present in the event of being governed. Our commitment is to the country and we believe that the country should not, on January 1, 2027, enter into twelfths”, said the socialist leader André Moz Caldas, at the end of a meeting of the National Party Secretariat.

According to André Moz Caldas, if the State Budget for 2027 (OE2027) was not approved, “a situation of undesirable political instability” would be created.

“ We do not push the country into a political precipice, and that is the meaning of our commitment. Not another. And, therefore, the PS has no vote in the sense that it announced and maintains in the face of the State Budget ", he stressed, after the leader of the PS, José Luís Carneiro, has already announced the intention to make the document viable, through abstention.

Asked about the fact that this announcement was made even before the government’s proposal to deliver to Parliament in the coming days was made, the head of the PS stressed that, if in the OE2027 “there were surprise measures that would undermine the political positions of the PS”, the party “will be able to review its position”.

“There is no indication in this sense and therefore the Socialist Party understands that it can honor what was the public commitment that has already taken place,” he reiterated.

Last week, PS Secretary General José Luís Carneiro announced that he will propose to the party’s organs the abstention in the OE2027 vote after the guarantees left by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro.

“ We chose to abstain, because the Prime Minister gave a very positive signal in answering all the questions we had asked, both in relation to the Constitution and the terms in which he referred to the PS deserve our appreciation”, he said in an interview with the online Eco newspaper released on Wednesday.

On Monday, in his first speech as head of state on the day of the Republic, António José Seguro argued that “political parties, social partners and other actors in society must understand the fundamental paths” the development of the country because “there is no time to lose”.

“ In this regard, I welcome the Government and the PS on their approach towards the approval of the state budget for next year. May other parties join this path of compromise and convergence in this and other legislative processes. As I have always said, both Portugal is served in the Government and in the opposition”, he said, later in his speech.