However, the Assembly of the Republic, meeting in plenary, approved one of the three points of a proposal presented by the PSD for the application, “as a matter of urgency”, of a system of discounts foreseen for electric and non-polluting vehicles.

In the draft resolution, the Social Democrats recommended that the Government “comply with what was approved in the State Budget and apply an effective 50% discount on toll rates in the interior territories”.

The PCP's 10 bills for the elimination of tolls on motorways 25 (A25), A28, A29, A41, A42, A4, A13, A22, A23 and A24 and the bill from Chega which defended the implementation of a plan of gradual exemption from the payment of tolls were failed.

Reform in June

The PS had already announced, on Thursday (debate day), that it would vote against all proposals relating to tolls, claiming that the Government will present a reform for the tariff reduction by June.

The parliamentary leader of the PS, Eurico Brilhante Dias, recalled that the value of tolls on motorways has been decreasing under the socialist governments and accused the social democrats of “opportunism political".

“The populations of the interior of Portugal know that today they pay tolls because the PSD demanded it in the negotiation of PEC [Stability and Growth Program] III”, said the socialist deputy, insisting that “the PS is the party that wants to reduce tolls” .

In response, the Social Democrat deputy Joaquim Miranda Sarmento attributed to the socialists the responsibility for introducing tolls in the former SCUT, considering that they were “ruinous contracts”.

Communist deputy Bruno Dias underlined that the exchange of accusations between PS and PSD demonstrates that both were responsible for introducing tolls, signalling a “convergence” to maintain them.

The deputy of Chega, Pedro Pinto, accused the PS of lying to the Portuguese, recalling that the value of tolls increased on January 1st.