The Socialist leader of the parliament assured this Friday that the budget negotiations between the PS and the government will continue, given that at this point there must be reservations on the issues raised, but that everyone is “open to negotiations, committed and in good faith.”
Leaving the government meeting on the state budget for 2025 (OE2025), Alexandra Leitan considered that the “most important” point to be made in connection with this meeting was the fact that it was decided that the PS and the executive would “continue to talk and negotiate”.
According to the parliamentary leader of the PS, at this stage “the talks are conducted in a restrained manner”, and therefore she did not reveal what was being discussed, but made it clear that all participants “are open to negotiations, everyone is interested, everyone is in a good mood”, “faith” and a sense of responsibility to achieve a “successful result”.
Asked if the government had brought anything new to the meeting, the parliamentary leader reiterated that she did not want to go into detail or highlight parts of the meeting that she believed should be kept secret.
“We have no reason to be pessimistic,” he said.
Despite persistent requests from journalists to try to find out what was being discussed, Alexandra Leitan confirmed that “there is nothing much to say” and insisted that the PS would “conduct negotiations with complete openness,” believing that she was being reserved about talking about “the negotiations having a better chance of being concluded successfully.
“I will not foresee any proposals, any measures, any priorities,” he explained, adding that at the initial stage they will always be presented first to the government.
Alexandra Leitão was also asked whether the absence of the Prime Minister for health reasons and the PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos had affected the meeting, and she answered in the negative.
“I cannot know what the meeting will be like – we took the opportunity to wish the Prime Minister all the best, I think the meeting was nevertheless very productive, there was no topic there,” he said.
After it became known this morning that Luis Montenegro was ill and would not participate in these meetings, a PS source informed Luce that the PS General Secretary would not be part of the socialist delegation and would attend a new meeting with the Prime Minister.
The PS delegation included the leader of the PS parliament, Alexandra Leitão, and MPs António Mendonça Mendes and Marina Gonçalves.
Ultimately, none of the government members present at the meetings – Minister of State and Finance Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, Minister of the President António Leitão Amaro and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pedro Duarte – made statements to the media.
The government met this Friday with all opposition parties with seats in parliament (SDS and SDS-PP cancelled their participation in the first round this Friday) regarding the state budget for 2025.
The prime minister was originally scheduled to attend these meetings. However, due to health reasons, Luis Montenegro cancelled his attendance at all political events until Sunday.