Rui Tavares predicts a “tough and dirty” election campaign

The leader of the Livre party, Rui Tavares, predicted this Wednesday in an interview with the publication CMTVa “tough and dirty” election campaign with some use of controversy surrounding justice.

“I’m afraid the campaign will be very tough and very messy because of the controversy surrounding justice. There are signs of political opportunism that benefits from discrediting the system,” he said.

Portuguese legislative elections, called by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will be held on March 10. The announcement of the new date follows the sacking of Antonio Costa, who became embroiled in a legal case.

Rui Tavares, who calls for reason and caution in responding to the results of the court cases, believes that the scandal has contours that can be easily linked to a “crisis of the regime.”

“Elements of the legislative and executive branches need to change.”

The Livre founder also calls on political agents to use “common sense” to “not make this situation even more exceptional.”

“We are undergoing a constitutional review. Theoretically, it would be possible to change the constitution now,” he recalled.

Was the political crisis unfounded?

In an interview, the politician and historian made it clear that he did not agree with Antonio Costa, who called the crisis “unnecessary and unfounded.”

“Since the resignation of the Prime Minister, this decision must be respected. When Livre was summoned to Belem, he did not comment on the continuation of the government or the calling of elections, since these decisions are strictly within the competence of the President of the Republic.”

However, the politician recalls that the only requirement was to hold elections “as quickly as possible.”

Rui Tavares also criticizes the actions of the General Prosecutor’s Office, which he accuses of passing such an important statement “to the press service.”

“This statement was signed by the press service. A statement of such importance cannot be signed by the press service. The importance of the moment required more explanation. When something this important happens, we have to speak up, no matter how difficult it may be. .”

Disagreements between the left, the Chegi threat and trust in politics

Rui Tavares argues that to run a good campaign in the current circumstances, “great vigilance” is necessary.

The leader of Livre believes that although “the left is different from each other,” there are many things that unite it.

“When it comes to the welfare state and public services, there are more green lines than red lines,” he said.

As for Chega, Rui Tavares recalls the warning he made during the last legislative campaign and says that a right-wing coalition with André Ventura’s party would be “more a curse than a blessing.”

“When I said two years ago that the absolute majority was unstable, I didn’t think I would be so right. It would be very important for right-wing parties to explain to voters that voting for Chegu worsens Portugal’s problems and pushes back the democratic right.”

In conclusion, the politician recalled that recent problems keep people away from politics and create an atmosphere of suspicion.

“In times of uncertainty, when boundaries are not clear, anyone who wants to serve the country with political power does not know how best to do so. It seems that all citizens are suspicious of politicians,” he concluded.