The general secretary of the PS assured, on Wednesday night in an interview with RTP3, that the party’s intervention in the debate on the State Budget in the specialty will be “surgical”. “We are not going to make any fundamental changes,” he said without giving more details and only guaranteeing that the intention is not to “transform” the Government Budgets.

The PS has already said that it will abstain, which will make the OE viable, both in the first vote and in the global final. And although he does not exclude himself from participating in the specialty debate, which takes place between both moments, he promises not to distort what is presented by the Government.

The socialist also spoke about the negotiation process, guaranteeing that “there was no zigzagthe PS only decided to vote once” on the State Budget for 2025. “In this process It’s smart to have doubts. and it is not very smart to be sure,” he added in the same interview.

Very justifying, Pedro Nuño considered that “the route [da negociação] reveals the capacity of the PS not to remain in a single position” and that abstaining in the Budget does not endanger its profile: “I am a man of the left, “I am a socialist and no one has any doubts about it and that has not changed,” he stated.. But the gadget is back there, he says, for now.

Regarding criticism from the left about the position of the PS in the OE, Pedro Nuno says that he has “respect for what they decide” but “the conclusions of the PS are different from those of the PCP and BE.” Regarding the device, he says that it was “a government experience that is not the inheritance of António Costa” or his: “It is a positive inheritance of the entire PS. we are in another time“, he concluded on this topic.

The socialist also responded to a question about the accusations of conditioning of freedom of internal expression, after the notices he left two weeks ago, to the party commentators who occupy the media space. In the interview, Pedro Nuno said that he did so because the positions expressed “weakened the negotiation”, at a time when the party had not yet defined a position. And that it was necessary for “everyone to be aware of the impact of their statements,” while ensuring that he did not want to condition anyone.

Rangel’s case with the military “is serious and is a State case”

The interview also addressed some current issues, beyond the Budget, such as the case of Minister of Foreign Affairs and military leaders at the Figo Maduro airport, upon the arrival of a repatriation flight of Portuguese from Lebanon. What the leader of the PS says he has heard and read, citing an article in Expresso by the former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, is that “the chief of the General Staff of the Air Force was mistreated” by Minister Paulo Rangel.

“The Government’s silence about what happened is fueling taboos that must be clarified as soon as possible,” defended Pedro Nuño. “It’s a serious case and it is a State case“He added on this matter in which the PS has already requested that the minister be heard in Parliament.

Regarding the violence of recent days in the neighborhoods of Greater Lisbon, Pedro Nuno Santos asked for “caution” when evaluating the case that gave rise to the situation and reiterated several times that there are problems of “criminality” in those neighborhoods. , but also that “Racism and police violence exist”. “We need a solid, strong and democratic rule of law that implies respect for the law. And we want it to be for everyone and not just for one side,” he said.

[Já saiu o quarto episódio de “A Grande Provocadora”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que conta a história de Vera Lagoa, a mulher que afrontou Salazar, desafiou os militares de Abril e ridicularizou os que se achavam donos do país. Pode ouvir aqui, no Observador, e também na Apple Podcasts, no Spotify e no Youtube. E pode ouvir aqui o primeiro episódio, aqui o segundo e aqui o terceiro.]

“There is one political leader in particular who exploits these episodes for electoral gain and reveals a total lack of empathy towards others. There is a citizen who lost his life and this should give everyone empathy for this citizen’s family,” he said about André Ventura and the statements he has made about the case. And he added that “at the same time we must also think about the young security agent” who must also “awaken empathy.”

Asked about the measures related to the reinforcement of security that Luís Montenegro had already announced at the PSD congress, even before this situation in Lisbon, the socialist stated that does not equate “the prime minister’s speeches with those of the leader of the Portuguese extreme right” in this matter, “but it is very important that whoever is responsible for leading a Government does not approach the issue of security from the side of repression, but rather understands what is happening and does what has to be done to promote social cohesion.” ”. ”.

Leadership “is not in dispute” in next year’s town councils

Regarding future electoral challenges, such as the upcoming municipal elections, the PS leader denied in the interview that they involve his leadership. “We are not competing for the leadership of the PS”he stated after having said that anyone who follows the party knows that there is no internal problem at this time.

“In the case of local authorities, what is at stake is to continue being the first political force at the local level,” he stated in a minimum bar since the PS has won these elections consecutively since 2013 and in the last local elections it won 161 chambers, more than half of the 308 existing municipalities.

He was also asked if he was prepared “for the rocky road” in the opposition, answering that he was “prepared to defend the country, the Portuguese and a vision for Portugal” and that this “happens in the Government or in the opposition” – without denying, however, that “the PS is a party of power” and that that is the objective.