Socialists unanimously support decision to let 2025 Budget pass
The Socialist's Political Committee unanimously approved leader Pedro Nuno Santos' proposal to let the centre-right minority Government's draft budget viable by abstaining in the vote in Parliament.
What?
On Monday night, Pedro Nuno Santos’ proposal to make the 2025 State Budget viable by abstaining was unanimously approved by the Socialist Party (PS) national political commission.
The meeting took place at the PS’s headquarters in Lisbon’s Largo do Rato and ended after 1.30am.
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Over the course of nearly four hours, the members of this party body made dozens of interventions on this single item on the agenda, in a meeting that began and ended with speeches by Pedro Nuno Santos.
The PS Secretary-General argued that the negotiation of the State Budget had made it possible to reduce the damage that the government was going to impose on the country, considering that the Socialists have to make a “tough opposition” and “present a real alternative”.
The president of the PS, Carlos César, spoke to journalists on his way out, admitting that the Socialists are having a hard time making this budget viable because they don’t like the proposal or trust the government. However, they chose to put the national interest above party interest.
José Luís Carneiro, who contested the Socialists’ leadership with Pedro Nuno Santos, agreed with the leader’s proposal to make the 2025 State Budget (OE2025) viable by abstaining.
The MP and former minister argued that with this position the PS leader and the Socialists show “their sense of responsibility” by maintaining their “central position in Portuguese political life” by putting the country and the Portuguese at the centre of the party’s political action.
José Luís Carneiro emphasised that the PS was once again “the solution to yet another political impasse” in Portugal.
What happens now?
According to the budget calendar published on the national Parliament’s website, the Finance Minister, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento will be heard on October 28, next Monday.
The following day, the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, will be heard at the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Commission (COFAP).
The discussion and vote on the first reading of draft budget will take place October 30-31.
Between November 4-15, the commissioned hearings of the various ministers and entities will take place.
Parties have until November 15 to submit proposed amendments to next year’s State Budget.
Between November 22-28, the Parliament will hold specialised debates in plenary sessions in the morning and votes in COFAP in the afternoon.
On November 29, the debate on the draft budget will come to an end and the final overall vote will take place.
16 December is the deadline for the final draft of SB2025 to be published.