Prime Minister speech

Luís Montenegro delivered a speech from the garden of the official residence in São Bento, with ministers from the current government and some from the previous one, which he also led, to mark the second anniversary of his inauguration on 2 April, 2024.

"Two years ago, a period ended in which the country had too much ideological stubbornness, which corresponded to too few results," he stated, referring to the previous PS governments.

Then, he reformulated a phrase he said in 2014, during the 'troika' period, when he admitted that people's lives were not better, but the country's was much better.

"Today the country is better, and the Portuguese people are also better," he argued.

Thanking the Government

Montenegro began by thanking the members of the XXIV and XXV Governments who accepted the invitation to mark these two years of "joint work" in a ceremony that was missed by some ministers of the current executive, who were out of Lisbon, such as Nuno Melo, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, and Miguel Pinto Luz.

Former ministers Pedro Duarte, Pedro Reis, and Margarida Blasco from the previous Government were present, but former government officials such as Maria Lúcia Amaral and Dalila Rodrigues were not.

Eager for change

“Two years ago, the Portuguese people wanted change; they believed it was possible to do more and stop postponing the future,” Montenegro noted.

Promoting better conditions

The Prime Minister highlighted tax reductions for families and businesses, income increases for workers and pensioners, and the many agreements with public administration careers.

“We brought the Welfare State to the centre of our action, rescuing it from operational bankruptcy,” he stated, defending the Government's measures in areas such as health, housing, and immigration regulation, with firmness and humanism.”

Montenegro also mentioned the creation of the green rail pass, “which allows all Portuguese citizens to travel for 20 euros for a month on all trains, except the Alfa Pendular.”

“We will reach one million subscriptions for this pass in the coming days,” he emphasised.

Two Presidents of the Republic

Since taking office for the first time on 2 April 2024, the PSD president has already worked alongside two Presidents of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and António José Seguro – who, upon taking office, said he wanted to stem the “electoral frenzy” of recent years – and two PS leaders, Pedro Nuno Santos and José Luís Carneiro.

Winning the elections

The first government headed by Luís Montenegro resigned on 11 March 2025 – less than a year into his term – after the parliament rejected a motion of confidence presented by the government, following weeks of doubts about the Prime Minister's personal and financial affairs and the company Spinumviva.

After a campaign entirely centred on Montenegro – the AD's anthem was "Let Luís work" – the PSD/CDS-PP coalition won the elections again in May 2025 and increased its number of deputies (from 80 to 91), in elections where Chega surpassed the PS as the second largest parliamentary force (60 deputies against 58).

Montenegro formed a continuity government – ​​with only two new ministers – and, in the first Council of Ministers meeting, claimed a central position in the Portuguese political landscape, saying that the executive would sometimes "glide" more to the left, sometimes more to the right, a metaphor he has repeated in other ways whenever asked if he will govern more with Chega or with the PS.

Since then, the path, in a tripartite parliament, has been to present the government as "the central axis" or the "middle bloc," without choosing a preferred partner between the PS and Chega.