In statements to journalists in parliament, the PSD parliamentary leader, Hugo Soares, reacted to the announcement that Chega will vote in favor of the PS proposal for the immediate elimination of tolls on the former SCUTs.

"It is becoming too obvious that Chega wants to start governing with the PS from parliament. There is a collusion between the PS and Chega", he argued, considering that Chega says it is the "party that was born to fight socialism", but "is constantly uniting" in parliament to approve PS measures.

Hugo Soares considered that "Chega needs to be clear with the Portuguese".

"Two or three days ago, Chega presented a draft resolution very close to the PSD's draft resolution. It tried to amend it these days, going back on what it had proposed and now it comes to announce that it will vote alongside the PS", he criticized.

For the PSD parliamentary leader, Chega "is not just a weather vane party that is changing its position every day, it is a party that does not bring stability, that cannot defend the same idea, the same policy for two days in a row".

"Now, it seems to be coherent in one thing: it seems obvious that they want to govern from parliament with the PS", he reiterated.

Hugo Soares also accused the PS of irresponsibility for making this proposal, stressing that it did not implement it, despite having governed for 22 of the last 28 years, and now, "a month after being in opposition", it is proposing it, despite representing "an expenditure of around 200 million euros".

"This is not only a sign of political immaturity and irresponsibility, it is a sign of total lack of control by the PS, which I did not want to fail to denounce here, and I believe that the Portuguese understand it well", he accused, recalling that the current PS secretary-general, Pedro Nuno Santos, was Minister of Infrastructure and Housing between 2019 and 2022, overseeing the motorways.

Hugo Soares argued that the country "is not in a position" to implement it and also recalled that the European Union "has been advocating that there should always be a user/payer principle".

"We know that the infrastructures that we use in road traffic, namely on motorways, need maintenance and that this maintenance is either done through the user/payer principle or should be done through the State Budget, and this prevents the Government from being able to take other social policy options", he stressed.

The PSD parliamentary leader stressed that the party has never defended the abolition of tolls, proposing instead their reduction, as stated in the draft resolution presented by the social democrats, which will also be debated and voted on today.

"We announced in the electoral campaign that there should be a significant and gradual reduction in the price of tolls, namely on the former SCUTs, especially with regard to the interior of the country and the Algarve region, but we believe that we should go further, and that is what our draft resolution says: also on the belts of the large metropolitan areas, the one in Porto goes to Aveiro", he stressed.

Asked if the PSD deputies will have freedom of vote, Hugo Soares replied: "No, obviously not".

"The leadership of the parliamentary group has a draft resolution in line with what we have always defended in the electoral campaign", he said, stating that he is aware that the Portuguese want the end of tolls, but also recognize the responsibility of those who want to reduce the price of tolls and support other social areas.

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