Montenegro expects “approximation of positions” on the Budget in the meeting with Pedro Nuno
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, hopes that in his meeting with the Secretary General of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, scheduled for Fridaythere is an “approximation of positions” on the 2025 State Budget. Questioned by journalists, at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN), in New York, about what expectations he has for the meeting with the secretary general of the PS, the Prime Minister replied: “I hope, naturally, that it can result in an approximation of positions that is likely to make the Budget viable.”
“I think this is what I don’t want, I think it’s the desire of all Portuguese people“, added the head of the PSD/CDS-PP Government, which does not have a majority in Parliament to guarantee the approval of the accounts for 2025.
Luís Montenegro expressed his commitment “to giving Portugal a State Budget for 2025 and not giving the country political, social and economic instability” and declined to answer any further questions on this subject.
On the other hand, when asked whether the Government already has a name to propose to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, for the succession of the Attorney General of the Republic, Lucília Gago, the Prime Minister said nothing, nor did he indicate deadlines for the conclusion of this process. Considering that this was not “the time to move on to national issues”Luís Montenegro limited himself to ensuring that the Constitution, which imposes a joint decision between the Government, who is responsible for proposing the name, and the President of the Republic, who is responsible for the appointment, will be complied with.
“The Government will not fail, within the scope of the plan determined by the Constitution, to do what it is responsible for, which is to present a proposal to the President and agree on it with him, because it will only be led to a final appointment decision by of the President. And, naturally, this presupposes concertation”, he said.
Tiago Petinga/EPA
Friday’s meeting will be the first between Luís Montenegro and Pedro Nuno Santos on the 2025 State Budget, after an exchange of accusations about the difficulty of agreeing the date of the meeting, which the PS secretary general demanded be made public.
The Prime Minister arrived in the United States of America on Tuesday night to participate in the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, where he will speak on Thursday.
Lucília Gago is about to end her six-year term as Attorney General of the Republic, which began on October 12, 2018. The Constitution of the Portuguese Republic establishes that “the mandate of the Attorney General of the Republic lasts for six years” and that it is the responsibility of the President of the Republic to “appoint and dismiss, upon proposal from the Government”, the holder of this position.
