This year, unlike what happened in 2023, when it voted against, the PS/Açores, the largest opposition party, has not yet decided how it will vote on the Plan and Budget for the region in 2024 and the issue "remains open" until the day of the vote in the regional parliament.

Carlos Silva, regional deputy and member of the PS Açores secretariat, recently stated that the party is not ignoring what happened on 4 May, when the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo in Ponta Delgada was hit by a fire that left it inoperable.

The socialist said that the party "is available for dialogue and open to being part of the solution" and that, until the day of the vote on the Plan and Budget, the issue would remain "open".

Later, the socialist deputy José Toste said that Health "is a crucial issue in the decision and consideration of the PS's vote".

Chega, which abstained in the previous vote, has already admitted to voting in favour, following "several meetings and [several] conversations with the Regional Government".

"Obviously, it is understood that if things continue to evolve positively, we are available to approve this Budget", the leader and regional deputy of Chega, José Pacheco, told Lusa.

The BE has already announced that it will vote against the documents, maintaining the vote of November 2023.

"Obviously, since it is the same budget that was presented in November, nothing has changed in the proposal, and our position will not change either", said the leader and sole deputy of the party in the regional parliament, António Lima.

The IL/Açores has not yet commented on the Plan and Budget for the region in 2024, with the sole deputy Nuno Barata reserving his position for the "appropriate day and place".

The PAN has also not made public the decision of its regional deputy Pedro Neves.

The Budget proposal, which defines the strategic guidelines of the coalition executive for this year, includes an amount of 2,045.5 million euros, similar to that presented in October 2023 (2,036.7 million).

This is the second time that the coalition Regional Government, led by the social democrat José Manuel Bolieiro, has presented a proposal for an Investment Plan for this year, after the previous one was rejected in the Legislative Assembly in November, with the votes against of the PS, BE and IL and the abstention of Chega and PAN, which led the President of the Republic to call early elections.

The executive resulting from the early legislative elections of 4 February governs the region without an absolute majority in the Azorean parliament and therefore needs the support of some parties with parliamentary seats to approve its proposals.

In the February elections, the PSD, CDS-PP and PPM elected 26 deputies, falling three short of an absolute majority. José Manuel Bolieiro, leader of the right-wing coalition, in power in the archipelago since 2020, said he would govern with a relative majority for four years.

The PS is the second force in the archipelago, with 23 mandates, followed by Chega, with five. BE, IL and PAN elected one regional deputy each, completing the 57 elected.

In March, the Government Programme was approved in the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores with votes in favour from the parties that make up the executive, abstentions from Chega, PAN and IL, and against from PS and BE.

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