“ Country does not win if the PSD is chained to the party on our right”

O prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, responded this Monday to the statements made by former Chief Executive Pedro Passos Coelho, who considered that, at the beginning of the legislature, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) “had an obligation” to have tried an agreement with the Aquida and the Liberal Initiative (IL). Not to mention the name of the Social Democrat, nor of the party headed by André Ventura, Montenegro said that “this PSD does not need, should not and the country does not earn anything if it is chained to the party on our right”.

“ We had an election, we had a convention. We had already had the national election, so we now have a double commitment: commitment to the people and commitment to the PSD militants, and that commitment is to be fulfilled. We are not going to walk month by month, quarter by quarter, or semester by semester repeating decisions. The decisions are made and are to lead to the end. I have no doubt: this PSD does not need, should not and the country does not earn anything if it is chained to the party on our right and that is, today, the second party with the largest parliamentary representation in the Assembly of the Republic”, said Montenegro, at the celebration dinner of the local victory of Pedro Duarte to the City Hall of Porto.

The Social Democratic leader added that “the country wants, wants and needs a government that governs, and that’s what it has”, since it dialogues “with those who are available, matter the matter, with those who are able to give and approach”.

“We don't rule the country on the basis of tantrums, schisms, no one's complexes. We govern the country on the basis of the interest of citizens, institutions, Portuguese society,” he said.

However, the Prime Minister stressed that the PSD militants are not “those who think they are smarter than others, more gifted than others, and who think they are always right”, although they are “those who have a line, with direction, with conviction”.

“ That is precisely why, when the PSD presents itself [a proposal] here or there, even in a repetitive way, sometimes with a different view, we do not fail to listen. [...] When, at the beginning of this year, this vision was presented as an alternative, as another option, we did what was required and challenged the party to be clear. We must always be clear, but when we are in government, we must be even clearer, because we have the people's confidence. Therefore, come from where it comes, if there are alternatives of thought, should be analyzed and that is what we did, quietly, in the PSD ", said.

It should be noted that Pedro Passos Coelho argued, in an interview with SIC News, that the PSD “had an obligation” to have tried an agreement with Aquira and IL, at the beginning of the legislature, because the three parties added more than 60% of the votes in the last suffrage.

“ If at the end of this whole period it is not possible for these three political forces to provide minimum support for important reforms that the country needs to do, I i think they will all be penalised. Some more than others, but they will all be penalized“, warned, on Sunday, advocating that the PSD should get ahead, because it was the most voted party.

Passos Coelho also expressed the expectation that the PSD may be “successful” in governance, as well as that it may come out of what he classified as an “enormous political trap” of making agreements with the PS now with the Aquira, a conjecture that, in its view, prevents the Executive from making profound reforms.