Socialist leader Carneiro attacks Montenegro at PS rentrée rally in Olhão

Carneiro's attack on Montenegro

José Luís Carneiro, secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PS), used the party's rentrée event, a popular festival (arraial popular) in Olhão on Sunday, to deliver a pointed critique of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's Friday night speech at the Pontal rally. Carneiro described Montenegro's address as a "speech of self-justification and censorship of those who carry out scrutiny of his Government." He drew a parallel with the AD coalition's 2025 Pontal rally, where, he said, free and independent journalism was itself a target.

It is not the first time; already in 2025, one of the targets of AD at their Pontal rally was precisely free, plural and independent journalism.

Carneiro argued that the Government has failed to respond adequately to the series of crises that have hit Portugal. He pointed to the national exam digitalization fiasco, which left students with their lives "postponed" by what he called an "irresponsible" government decision. He further accused Montenegro of lacking the "democratic humility" to offer students a word of solidarity or to acknowledge the Government's "serious failure" in adopting what he termed an "ill-considered and irresponsible" decision on the exams.

The Government and the prime minister have not to this day shown proof of being able to react, to respond with capacity, with sensitivity and with competence to the crises that have assailed the country.

A 1995 echo in the Algarve

The choice of Olhão, in the Algarve and a short distance from Faro, was deliberate. In the summer of 1995, with elections approaching, the then PS leader António Guterres convened a rally in Faro on the same night and a few metres from the PSD's Pontal festival, then led by Fernando Nogueira, to measure forces at the tail end of the Cavaco Silva era. This year, two days after Montenegro's Pontal speech, Carneiro held his own political rentrée with a popular festival in Olhão and did not reject the comparison, while acknowledging that the times are different.

It was here that, in 1995, the new majority started and it is here that the demonstration of the strength of an alternative for the country will start.

Building an alternative

Carneiro conceded that the alternative he envisions is not yet constructed. Speaking to journalists on arrival at the festival, he said the PS needs to "build an alternative, affirm it, make it known and call all Portuguese to participate in this space of political participation," because all will be called to join "an alternative to a Government that does not respond to people's problems."

The PS leader pointed to what he described as government "failures" during crisis moments, including a blackout (apagão) and storms, as well as the lack of adequate responses to the rising cost of living. Beyond replying to Montenegro's Pontal intervention, Carneiro was expected to use his Sunday evening address in the Algarve to emphasise shortcomings in health and housing policy, areas where he argues the Government also falls short.