Portugal's PS leader urges government to suspend new rent law to avoid social crisis

The leader of Portugal's Socialist Party (PS), José Luís Carneiro, urged the prime minister on Saturday to shelve the new rent law, calling it a "social fuse" that threatens young people, families, and the elderly. Speaking in Vila Nova de Cerveira, Carneiro said the government must protect vulnerable groups and expressed solidarity with protesters, while urging authorities to use force only "adequately and proportionally" if necessary. He ruled out changing the PS's abstention on the state budget, saying creating a political crisis would be "irresponsible." The calls came amid nationwide protests by the CGTP union and housing movements against rising living costs. Carneiro also referenced a police inquiry into a Thursday intervention in Porto and urged the prime minister to monitor intelligence services more closely.