José Luís Carneiro, the PS leader, publicly defended the need to follow a "path" for holding a referendum on regionalization. The socialist politician reiterated his party's position in favor of administrative decentralization and the creation of administrative regions in Portugal.
In the same speech, Carneiro accused the Government of taking "steps backwards" in the regionalization process. The main criticism concerns the appointments made by the executive for the regional coordination and development commissions, which the PS considers to be contrary to the spirit of decentralization.
The Secretary-General of the PS stressed that these appointments represent a setback in regional autonomy and in strengthening the powers of local communities. The PS position comes at a time when the debate on the country's territorial organization continues to dominate the Portuguese political agenda.
