Montenegro says that Costa is not “the master of all this” and asks him to “wake up” to what is happening in agriculture.

The President of the PSD warned this Monday in Santarém that “an absolute majority is not an absolute power” and “does not mean that the Prime Minister is the owner of all this to do what is not welcomed by fate.”

Luis Montenegro, who this Monday is attending the National Agricultural Fair (FNA), which takes place at the National Exhibition and Agricultural Market Center (CNEMA) in Santarém until Sunday, asked António Costa to be aware of the fact that farmers have lost “trust” and “patience” to Ministry of Agriculture.

“The prime minister needs to be aware of this issue, the prime minister needs to say something,” he urged after being asked that no member of the government was invited to visit the FNA, which he believes is a sign that “the sector has lost confidence, has lost patience with the Ministry of Agriculture.”

For Montenegro, the “stubbornness” of Antonio Costa, who does not want to change the “framework” of policy in this sector, “has a price”, as farmers remain “with great difficulties”.

“I myself have no hope anymore, I have insisted for too long on a government decision that is not taken locally,” he said, regretting that António Costa thinks that “because he had the results of the elections that he received in January 2022, he will forever remain to rule.”

“Won’t stay. Neither he nor the Socialist Party will stay,” he said, saying that the SDP is “increasingly intertwined” with the country’s social and economic fabric and that the future is “Portugal’s agricultural policy.”

Recalling the Prime Minister’s statement asking that the results of the legislative elections be respected, Montenegro stated that Costa “has no moral right to demand respect for the results of the elections”.

Earlier, the PSD leader asked the government to “fill the void left in the agricultural policy in Portugal”, and António Costa and Agriculture Minister Maria do Seu Antunes to take the side of the farmers.

Montenegro pointed to delays in nominations and difficulties in accessing finance for farmers, he said, citing the example of the Azores, where an aid plan was not implemented due to rising production costs.

“The government has an actually erroneous agrarian policy, there is a void in the government in the field of agriculture, which needs to be filled once and for all, because we are talking about many people, the use of natural resources. occupying the territory, be more self-sufficient in terms of food, reconciliation of agriculture, forests, conservation of the environment and biodiversity,” he said.