President Cegi said on Tuesday that the party had been invited by the government to a meeting on Friday on the 2025 state budget, and that it had been indicated that the prime minister would be present.
The information was conveyed to journalists by André Ventura in a statement from the Assembly of the Republic.
“On Friday we will have our first meeting where Chega will present his main budget priorities to the government,” he said.
The Çega leader insisted that the SDP/CDU-PP government “must choose” which party it will negotiate with. He argued that the budget could be approved with a Çega vote in favour or a PS abstention, and that “these paths are in themselves opposites,” and warned the government that it “must decide quickly” “with whom and in what way it wants to negotiate the state budget.”
“It is impossible to have a budget that satisfies both Cega and the PS,” he argued, adding: “Either the government will decide to satisfy the needs of the PS, which means high taxes, high subsidies, increased spending and a shrinking economy in exchange for subsidizing that economy,” or “a model closer to Cega” with “lower taxes, specific and selected public investment and promotion of economic growth, freeing families and companies from the cruel tax burden.”
Andre Ventura said today that he was aware of the government’s invitation to a “first round of talks” scheduled for Friday afternoon, and that he had been informed that Luis Montenegro would be present at this first meeting.
On behalf of Chega, the party president, general secretary and some MPs will be present.
“The government has given signals to the parties that it is genuinely interested in listening and building a framework for budget policy for the coming years, and it is in this sense that Chega agreed to participate in this round of negotiations,” he said.
Ventura also added that the party has decided to create a “special team” to negotiate the state budget, which will include members of the party’s National Directorate, such as the president and secretary general, as well as members of the Economy, Budget and Finance committees.
The leader of Chega noted that the party “will participate in the state budget negotiations with a sense of responsibility” and that it will bring “many of the [suas] flags.”
“The government cannot and must not submit to the Assembly of the Republic closed documents, imposed documents without any negotiations,” Ventura defended, warning that “the party cannot vote for a budget if it is not included in it and if it is not called upon to build this budgetary policy and this alternative policy.”
The leader of Çega stated that the party would vote for “only if the budget is a product of negotiations” and stated that if the government decides to negotiate with the PS, “if election promises continue to be looked at from the sidelines, as happened with the collections, as happened with the IRS, Çega completely dissociates itself and bears no responsibility for the outcome of the budget negotiations.
Minutes after André Ventura’s statement, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Luis Montenegro would receive all political parties with seats in parliament at his official residence regarding the state budget for next year.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.