The secretary-general of PSD and leader of the social-democratic parliamentary bench, Hugo Soares, harshly criticized the censure motion presented by Chega against the XXV Constitutional Government, classifying the document as "completely detached from reality." On the sidelines of the PSD political comeback event in Ponte de Lima, the leader accused André Ventura of seeking only the "center of political debate" and constant television exposure, suggesting that the far-right party's strategy aims to divert attention from the positive economic results and make the country talk about "what truly does not matter."
To substantiate the position of the executive led by Luís Montenegro, Hugo Soares highlighted the recent upgrade of Portugal's public debt rating by the Fitch rating agency — from "A" to "A+" with a stable outlook — emphasizing that this was a financial milestone the country had not achieved in about 25 years. The agency's assessment reflected the improvement and strengthening of national public finances, pointing to a sustainable trajectory of debt reduction and more solid budgetary balances than the European peers' average, justifying the decision with the government's ongoing political commitment to fiscal prudence.
Hugo Soares further stated that "with wages increasing, taxes falling successively, employment at historic highs and unemployment at historic lows," the censure motion is completely detached from reality. The social-democratic parliamentary leader assured that PSD will continue to focus on "finding solutions to the problems that affect people's lives."
The Chega initiative comes as the first censure motion faced by the XXV Constitutional Government and the third against PSD/CDS-PP executives headed by Luís Montenegro. The central motivation expressed by André Ventura's party aims to directly hold the Prime Minister accountable for maintaining the Minister of Internal Administration in his position. Despite the initiative, the document's defeat is anticipated, as approval would require an absolute majority of deputies, a hypothesis categorically ruled out by the positions already taken by PS and Iniciativa Liberal.
