Montenegro says government won’t invest ‘one cent more’ in security force proposal

The prime minister said on Tuesday the government would not invest “one cent more” in the security forces proposal, saying it had already made “terrible efforts” and was unable to “bring back financial instability”.

“There is one thing that cannot happen: the government loses the right to worry about the whole of society, about everyone else. As long as I am prime minister, I will be ready to solve everything that needs to be solved in Portugal, but not to bring back financial instability, suffering for everyone just to satisfy the private interests of some,” said Luis Montenegro at the end of the PSD parliamentary days in Sintra.

The SDP chairman left a warning about Chega’s planned parliamentary debate on security careers on Thursday, saying the party would discuss degrees that intrude into government purview.

“We respect everyone’s political opinion, but we do not hesitate to condemn, fight and confront those who are guided by opportunism, the instrumentalization of real problems. Next Thursday we will see whose side everyone is on, and we will all be here to take responsibility for what they decide,” he said.

Negotiations between the government and the PSP and GNR unions on the allocation of a risk subsidy have remained without agreement after three months, after the MAI proposed increasing the PSP and GNR risk supplement by 300 euros, an amount to be paid in stages until 2026, increasing the fixed supplement from the current 100 to 400 euros, while also maintaining the variable part at 20% of the base salary.

Luis Montenegro considered that the proposal that the government had already presented to the PSP and the GNR represented “the maximum effort, an effort that no government had ever made before.”

“It’s worth remembering that 300 euros a month multiplied by 14 salaries equals 4,200 euros a year,” he said, adding that this means “almost four salaries more” for PSP and GNR professionals who earn less, and “one to one and a half salaries more” for PSP and GNR professionals who earn less, those at the top of their careers.

Therefore, he added, the government can only make “adjustments to the agreement, not to the values.”

“The government will not put a cent more into the proposal they have presented because we have done a terrible job,” he said, noting that it is important to value these professional groups but not to be willing to question their “internal and external credibility” or to withhold resources to stimulate the economy.

Without directly referring to Chega, he said he saw political forces that “behave irresponsibly” and have “a highly trade unionist vocation” and “pretend that there are those who care more about what belongs to everyone.”

Chegi President Andre Ventura on Sunday called on all police and security forces to “mobilize and show up in parliament” on Thursday, the day his party will present projects to correct “historical injustices,” saying the government had already done all three to do so.

On Thursday, on the agenda set by Chega, the party will debate several bills, including one that would apply the additional mission regime enjoyed by the Judicial Police to the National Republican Guard, the Public Security Police and the Prison Guard Corps.