While the discussion on the State Budget began in Parliament, the Government left the warnings to the navigation. At the end of the Council of Ministers this Friday, it was up to the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, to comment on the amendment proposals presented by the opposition, remember that the surplus is “limited” and record the “complicity” between PS and Chega .

For now, the Government is a “spectator” and is “observing”, he began by stating, before launching into warnings directed at the opposition.

“The Portuguese do not want the country to return to the notorious deficits of the late 2000s,” he stressed, calling for the surplus to be “preserved.” He then attacked the PS and Chega for promising to approve the increase in pensions against the Government’s wishes: “We have registered another complicity and electoral alliance between the second and third largest parties. “Their voters will say if they voted in favor of this coalition between PS and Chega.”

Regarding pensions, the minister recalled the measures he has already taken to increase the purchasing power of pensioners (“this government is synonymous with increasing purchasing power, the Portuguese know it”), but always refused to say whether he believes that the measure would effectively distort the EO and the margin it has.

“We are not going to enter into this dispute over the proposals in the specialty,” he rejected, reminding that the UTAO must rule on the matter. “We warn about the importance of budget balance, the importance of staying the course, and we express our responsible vision of a permanent logic of successive increase in the purchasing power of pensioners.” And this vision, for the Government, continues to involve promoting a new increase in the “bonus” for pensioners next year, if there are budgetary conditions for it.

Minister speaks of a “historic day” for Education, and the PS denies figures

The Minister was also consulted about the controversy surrounding the statements of the Minister of Education, who told Expresso that the number of students who do not attend any of the classes due to lack of teachers decreased by 90% compared to last year, a figure which was immediately questioned by the PS, which accuses the Executive of comparing this value with the number of students who, at some point last year, did not take any classes (due to the teacher’s resignation, for example).

Without going into details or explanations about the disparity in the figures presented by the two parties, Leitão Amaro still maintained the version of the Minister of Education: “It is one of the best results, one of the best news that the Portuguese have had in years.” in education. “I understand that it costs something. It is a historic day to know that a Government that faced the problem is solving it,” he said.

In the same briefing, the minister refused to reveal the Government’s position on the possible re-election of Admiral Gouveia e Melo as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, stressing that the Council of Ministers “did not rule” on the matter. Also refusing to reveal the moment in which the Government plans to announce a decision, with the mandate ending in December: “This is a Government that does not promise announcements, it is a Government that makes them. “It has never been our custom to promise here that we will make an announcement.”

The Council of Ministers also helped the Government to approve the diploma that complies with the agreement that the Government reached with nurses, regarding salary updates. “This diploma corresponds to what was negotiated in terms of remuneration changes in positions with the nurses’ union representatives and represents an expense in 2027, when the impact of these changes has stabilized, of around 230 million euros,” he explained during the briefing. which took place at the facilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Lisbon.

Belém sees the re-election of Gouveia e Melo as “the most logical solution”