Rangel points to government scandals: “Where are you, where are you, oh Republican ethicist PS?”

PSD vice-president Paulo Rangel said the party was seeking to restore the authority and prestige of its institutions after eight years of PS rule with a “series of scandals and affairs.”

“This discredits the institutions and the republican ethics that the PS talks about so much. Where are you, where are you, the republican ethics of the PS?” asked Paulo Rangel before the 41st Congress of the PSD, which is taking place in Almdad. , Setubal.

Paulo Rangel said the country’s international image had suffered due to a “series of scandals and affairs”, citing as an example “the image of the person who deals with TAP issues” via WhatsApp. [rede social]alluding to former minister and current candidate for PS general secretary Pedro Nuno Santos.

In another example of the degradation of institutions, Rangel criticized Prime Minister António Costa for not “hesitating” after his resignation to “send in an infrastructure minister.” [João Galamba] defend the draft state budget for 2024 in parliament.

“With leadership and clear direction, we will restore trust in institutions and the prestige of Portugal here and abroad,” he said.

Rangel praised Luis Montenegro, stressing that he “said yes to the country” when the horizon until new legislative elections was four years because he was “dissatisfied with the situation” in which Portugal found itself.

“I believed,” Rangel said, referring to Montenegro’s domestic campaign motto: “Believe.”

Now, with elections scheduled for March 10, Rangel assured that the PSD is “ready” to govern the country and said there are only two alternatives: “either keep the IPS or switch to the PSD.”

The Social Democratic leader listed areas in which the party had presented alternative proposals, from education to health, including tax policy and housing, over the past two years, and noted that the PSD had opposed and criticized Prime Minister António Costa as well as “Pedro Nuno Santos and José Luis Carneiro,” former governors and current candidates for the post of PS general secretary.

The first vice-president of the Social Democrats said that the PSD is “ready to offer an alternative with leader Luis Montenegro, as well as a team made up of people from “party cadres, but also from civil society”, with “people who have been in other parties and with people who have never been in the party.”

Regarding the program that the PSD will present, Rangel said it covers “all major areas” as well as “a plan to restore the trust and prestige of the institutions.”

The 41st Congress of the PSD was convened with the main purpose of revising the charter, but the political crisis turned the conclave into the start of an election campaign for early legislative elections.