Luis Montenegro breaks the almost complete silence he has maintained since Tuesday’s election night

Luis Montenegro will break on Tuesday, the day he took office as prime minister, the almost complete public silence that he has maintained since election night, with the only exceptions being the hearings in Belem and a trip to Brussels.

The President of the Republic will inaugurate the XXIV Constitutional Government on Tuesday in a ceremony scheduled for 18:00 in the Palácio da Ajuda, less than a month after the legislative elections of March 10 that brought victory to the AD (electoral system). SDP, SRS-PP and PMP were formed).

After election night, Luis Montenegro spoke to the media only at the end of the two hearings he held in Belem on March 20 and 21, but did not answer questions about the problems of governing with a short parliamentary majority (80 PSD/CDS deputies against 78 from the PS and a group of 50 parliamentarians from Chega).

“I brought to the attention of the President of the Republic that our motivation is the same as that of the election campaign: we are focused on the problems of the Portuguese people, on the life of every citizen who lives and works in Portugal, respecting the will of the Portuguese people. to promote a change of government, prime minister and politics in Portugal,” he said.

Regarding the willingness expressed by the PS Secretary General to contribute to a possible change in the budget, Montenegro only said that it noted “with satisfaction the sense of responsibility” of Pedro Nuno Santos.

On 21 March in Brussels, already as Prime Minister-designate, he told the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that “there is no reason to question the stability of the country” or “the stability of the decision of the government, which, although it does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic, enjoys the confidence of voters.”

On this occasion, he also promised to speed up the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to “recover the delays” that were rejected by the António Costa government.

Since then, only through social networks has Luís Montenegro celebrated the meeting with the current Prime Minister António Costa as “a testament that will open a new cycle in Portugal” last Wednesday, or the presentation to the President of the Republic of the list of ministers on Thursday.

Also in a statement on March 26, the SDP and IL said they would not move forward “at this time to celebrate broad understanding,” including the formation of a new government.

For almost two days, while the first plenary session of the XVI Legislative Assembly lasted, Montenegro did not make a single statement to journalists, even after a meeting with the Secretary General of the PS, which would ultimately unblock the impasse in the election of a candidate. The PSD nominated former Defense Minister José Pedro Aguiar-Branco for the post of President of the Assembly of the Republic.

It is expected that in his inaugural speech, which will follow the speech of the President of the Republic on Tuesday, Luis Montenegro will be able to address the main problems of his executive body in terms of governance and the priorities that he highlighted during the election campaign and on election night.

Early on March 11, Montenegro recalled that he had “always said” that “winning an election means having one more vote” and that voters had signaled to political forces that “they must pay more attention to dialogue and consultation between leaders and parties.” “.

“Everyone is obliged to provide the country with conditions of stability and controllability. I do not absolve myself of the main responsibility that will be mine, but it is also necessary to demand that others fulfill what was the word of the Portuguese people,” he said then.

That night, the PSD president said he hoped that the PS and Chega “would not form a negative alliance that would interfere with the government that the Portuguese wanted” and again rejected an agreement with André Ventura’s party, but without ruling out dialogue.

“We recognize that in many cases the implementation of the government’s program will have to go through dialogue in the Assembly of the Republic. This is natural and we expect all parties to be able to shoulder their responsibilities, starting with the main opposition party.” , He said .

Regarding the AD program, the PSD president repeated in the elections some of the main commitments of the coalition: “reducing the tax burden” and bringing “more growth” to the Portuguese economy; “implement an emergency medical program within the first 60 days of government”; “bring stability to public schools,” with “great demand and quality”; halt rising house prices and improve access by “increasing supply in both the public and private sectors”; “provide security forces with better working conditions and pay,” arguing that “the justice system can be changed and corruption can be fought more effectively.”