The President of the Republic discounts Galamba’s decision to end the budget debate

This Thursday, the President of the Republic played down the significance of the decision of Minister João Galamba to close the debate on the budget as a whole, but considered that perhaps it could have been a “discomfort” for the person previously in charge of infrastructure.

“The government chooses who will speak. I will go and see who will speak first, second, third, fourth, fifth,” Marcelo Rebelo de Souza told reporters, adding: “Given the problems that are in the world and the problems that are in the country, how important is this? Zero.”

The head of state spoke at the former royal arena next to the Belém Palace in Lisbon after a meeting with Portuguese startups.

Answering a question about the choice of João Galamba to speak on behalf of the government at the end of the budget debate, the President of the Republic said that in Moldova he had the opportunity to say that, with the exception of TAP, he does not usually speak outside the infrastructure.

“Therefore, intervention that occurs mainly in the field of infrastructure is a discomfort, it is not for me, it could be for anyone who may have dealt with this topic in the near or distant past. Not for me,” he says.

On the other hand, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized that his phrase, which the Minister of Infrastructure quoted on Tuesday at the end of the debate on the draft state budget for 2024 as a whole, was that the strategy followed by the government “is perhaps only possible one”.

According to the President of the Republic, this means that “this is not a stimulating, exciting budget, because it was impossible to have one,” but rather, “within the existing framework, the budget is possible.”