Brilhante Dias: State Budget 2026? "The PS will speak out at the appropriate time"

"I don't anticipate the Socialist Party (PS) having much to say about the budget process without knowing the budget. We will wait for the right moment," said Eurico Brilhante Dias, in an interview with Lusa news agency, when asked about the 2026 State Budget (OE2026).

The PS leader finds it curious that the Government has scheduled the local elections for two days after the budget was submitted.

“We already had the electioneering scene of the pension increase in September and now we are in strong anticipation of another electioneering scene on October 10th,” he criticizes.

Referring the party's decision to the PS bodies, Brilhante Dias emphasizes that "the budget initiative is the Government's" and that it is necessary to understand the proposal in order to make a decision.

“The initiative is the Government's and until that moment the PS will not formulate, should not formulate a position on the budget” , he states.

When asked whether there will be prior negotiations, as happened last year between Luís Montenegro and former PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos, Brilhante Dias declined to answer directly and pointed out that the socialists will talk "about the budget when the topic is the budget" because the focus, at the moment, is the local elections and preparing alternative proposals in different areas.

Regarding what the Socialist Party will do if the Government invites it to sit at the negotiating table before the 2026 State Budget is delivered, the Socialist parliamentary leader considers it "unlikely" that this will happen given the government's attitude.

“We don't know what will happen regarding the budget, and so the PS will speak out at the appropriate time, probably when it knows the budget lines,” he insists.

Eurico Brilhante Dias returns to lead the PS parliamentary bench in a very different situation to that which he found when he occupied this same position during António Costa's absolute majority, with the party now reduced to less than half the number of MPs it had then.

Regarding the poor election results in the May 18 legislative elections, he rejects the idea that Pedro Nuno Santos is solely responsible and considers that “it is the responsibility of the PS collective.”

"I supported the secretary-general in his decision and campaigned alongside him to achieve the best possible outcome. I won't buy into the logic of blaming one man at a given moment. Pedro Nuno Santos doesn't deserve this," he emphasizes.

Regarding the potential inconvenience of having the former PS leader on the bench, the socialist leader responds, “half jokingly, half seriously,” that Pedro Nuno Santos is perhaps the PS deputy “who most deserves to be in Parliament.”

"He was certainly the one who fought the longest and most committedly for us to achieve the best possible result and to be elected. And that's why Pedro Nuno is welcome on the bench, he's on the bench, and we count on him without acrimony ," he assures.

Regarding the controversy surrounding the demolition of shacks in Loures, a council led by socialist Ricardo Leão, Brilhante Dias was asked about the position of presidential candidate and former secretary-general of the Socialist Party, António José Seguro, that decisions like these need to be taken "with the head, but executed with the heart."

"It's very difficult to criticize Ricardo Leão and say he has no heart. Ricardo Leão has a heart," he argues.

In the opinion of Brilhante Dias, who points the finger at the Government for the lack of responses in this matter, “it is a particularly difficult situation, but only in the Socialist Party would this matter be discussed like this”.

"Because it's a very difficult social reality, for which socialists demand solutions beyond simply tearing down shacks. They seek solutions that are socially just. And that's why it's so good to be a member of the Socialist Party ," he observes.