Nuno Melo links school placement delays to Socialist migration policies at CDS rentrée

School enrollment delays and immigration policy

At the closing of the CDS-PP political reopening event in Albergaria-a-Velha, party leader and Minister of National Defence Nuno Melo attributed ongoing school placement delays to the immigration policies of previous Socialist Party (PS) administrations. Speaking before an audience of about 250 people, Melo stated that late school enrollments predominantly involve newly arrived foreign students who entered Portugal under open-border policies enacted during António Costa's government. He singled out former Minister of Internal Administration José Luís Carneiro as the official primarily responsible for the administrative backlogs facing Portuguese public schools at the start of the academic year.

There are students who are being enrolled when classes have already started. That is true. But what Dr. José Luís Carneiro should keep in mind is that delays in registrations are also a direct consequence of the disaster of the decisions he took regarding the loss of control over migratory flows.

CDS-PP standing within the Democratic Alliance

During his one-hour address in the Aveiro district, Melo also directed criticism at Chega, accusing André Ventura's party of seeking to maintain disorder rather than offering governance solutions. He stated that in the previous legislative session, Chega voted alongside the PS to defeat a proposal establishing a dedicated border police force. Defending his party's distinct identity within the governing Democratic Alliance (AD) coalition alongside the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Melo cited a recent disagreement regarding the display of flags on public buildings. He noted that opinion polling indicated the CDS-PP could quadruple its 2022 election result with a 30% growth margin, potentially electing seven to eight lawmakers on independent tickets.

If we were identical to the PSD, then it would not make sense for us to be there, because we would be strictly the same thing. And from that point of view, the CDS is that right wing that adds, that contributes.

Chega attacks Prime Minister over living costs

Meanwhile, Chega held its own political reopening in Madeira, where party president André Ventura responded to recent statements made in Braga by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro. Montenegro had previously stated that he would not become a father of austerity and ruled out fresh state aid packages to offset rising living costs. Ventura rejected this characterization, accusing the head of government of administrative failure regarding consumer prices for food and fuel, while demanding an immediate reduction in value-added tax (VAT) on motor fuels.

Luís Montenegro, for now, is being remembered as the father of incompetence. That is a bit worse than being the father of austerity. Both are bad, but the father of incompetence and cover-up is also not good.

Case archived for former economy minister

Separately, the Public Prosecution Service archived corruption suspicions against Manuel Pinho, who served as Minister of Economy under former Prime Minister José Sócrates, alongside the former head of Roland Berger in Portugal. Prosecutors had examined allegations concerning two counts of passive corruption and one count of influence peddling, investigating whether Pinho had been hired by the German consulting firm following his ministerial tenure as compensation for decisions related to Turismo de Portugal.