EIt was September 1997. There was a month left before the delivery of the State Budget, when Prime Minister António Guterres invited his rival and old friend Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, president of the PSD, to a secret dinner at the official residence of São Bento. As an appetizer, he was given a talk about the single European currency, but the main course was the feasibility of the Budget for 1998. That was a hidden negotiation, away from public eyes, to find a pleasant way out for both of them. In fact, contrary to what the myth says, Marcelo did not approve Guterres’ Budgets with his eyes closed, in the name of that greater good that was the euro. There was a lot of private talk with public blackmail from both sides, so much so that the opposition leader had the red line clearly drawn: he was against a PS measure called minimum IRS and IRC collection, which had led him to spread posters across the country. , with one of those catchy phrases that advertisers love. “Maximum penalty for minimum revenue.”
