Pedro Nuno accuses the Government of “failure” regarding security forces and criticizes Chega’s “opportunism”

The PS leader accused the prime minister of failing to reach an agreement with the security forces, one of Luís Montenegro’s “great electoral promises”, and accused Chega of taking irresponsible advantage of the situation it is. “I worry that there will be no agreement. […] This had actually been one of the great promises of the current prime minister in the campaign, who would resolve the situation with the security forces in a short time. What we are witnessing is the failure of that advertisement”, Pedro Nuno Santos responded to journalists.

In question the statements this Tuesday by the Prime MinisterLuís Montenegro, when he stated that the Government will not put “not one more cent” into the proposal for the security forces, saying that it has already made “a terrible effort” and is not available to “bring back financial instability”.

“We are witnessing an assertiveness that should exist, but that did not exist during the campaign. I remember well the debate that we had and which was subject to pressure from the security forces and we did not have on the part of the current prime minister, no assertive response in defense of the republican authority of the Portuguese state”, criticized the PS leader.

For Pedro Nuno Santos, the argument of budgetary capacity is important and the PS does not devalue it, but said it is the “first time” that he has heard it since this Government took office, recalling “a series of measures with a high cost budget”.

The PS leader also made a “total condemnation of the use of Chega” of this impasseconsidering that “it doesn’t calm anyone” and that the appeal of the party president, André Ventura, for the security forces to go to parliament on Thursday shows their displeasure “at It’s irresponsible.”

“No citizen in Portugal is at peace, even those who voted for Chega and even those who, voting for Chega, value order and public order, who agree with the way in which the Chega leader behaves in this regard. to this topic because it is one thing for us to be concerned with the concrete situation that the security forces deal with every day and then the PS and I myself are also concerned and there is no the slightest doubt about it”, he pointed out.

Considering that it is very important that “security forces feel respected and motivated in Portugal”, Pedro Nuno Santos distinguished this position from that of André Ventura, who was “stimulating a manifestation of strength those of security”.

“The way the appeal was made is irresponsible on the part of André Ventura and we have to say it very clearly. This is no way to solve anyone’s problem. The only thing Andrà What Ventura is doing is trying to take advantage of and exploit the legitimate discontent of the security forces”, he accused.

For the general secretary of the PS “It is essential that politicians in Portugal affirm the authority of the State from the outset by criticizing the use that other politicians make and the instrumentalization that other politicians make of the protests or the legitimate discontent of the security forces”.

“What remains is the failure of a negotiation and that is bad for everyone. It’s bad for the Government, it’s bad for the security forces and it’s bad for the country because it obviously doesn’t have a pacified sector and we had an entire campaign of protest from the forces. security features. I have never seen the same assertiveness from the Prime Minister that he is speaking with today,” he said.