The candidate for general secretary of the Socialist Party, José Luis Carneiro, this Thursday referred to polls that point to him as the best way to defeat the PSD in the legislature, and warned that socialist activists have a decisive choice to make.
This is the position José Luis Carneiro outlined in statements to journalists after he presented to the PS headquarters in Lisbon his strategic proposal for the internal elections on December 15 and 16 to choose António Costa’s successor as general. PS secretary
Speaking to reporters, the interior minister laid out a line of succession with the current government, saying his candidacy “takes pride in the public policies developed over the last eight years” but added that he is also “taking steps forward in some areas.” has the meaning” .
On December 15 and 16, in the PS internal elections, according to José Luis Carneiro, “activists will have to make a decisive choice.”
“They will have to choose the candidate and profile of the candidate that best corresponds to the general will, that is, the will of the broad political and social center. As all public opinion surveys show, this candidacy demonstrates the ability to speak and strive to create understanding among political and democratic representatives in Parliament to serve the country,” he said.
The former Socialist Deputy Secretary General later confirmed the idea that PS activists would “make the decisive decision.”
“They will have to decide how they want the PS to go into the general elections, into dialogue with the Portuguese. From our point of view, this is the candidacy that meets these conditions to win the legislative elections over our main competitor, the PSD candidate.” [Luís Montenegro].
José Luis Carneiro expressed concern about the growing “polarization of society with the rise of extremism,” as happened in Brazil and Argentina, and the “weakening of democratic forces.”
“Our candidacy responds to this enormous challenge facing the country by supporting the PS as a great party of democratic dialogue with civil society and parties, seeking to find the broadest possible consensus to serve the country. Those who promote excessive polarization provide a fertile path for the development of demagoguery and populism,” he warned.
In the elections on December 15 and 16, Jose Luis Carneiro’s rivals for the leadership of the PS will be MP and former minister Pedro Nuno Santos and Socialist leader Daniel Adrian.
Regarding the content of his strategic proposal, the PS leadership candidate rejected the idea that he could contribute to the worsening conditions of governance in the country by proposing electoral law reform for the Assembly of the Republic.
“It is expected that there will be broad consensus among political parties to assess the conditions under which we seek to move forward with electoral reform. We also want to promote broad discussion on issues of government reform, regionalization and justice reform. “, he explained.
According to José Luis Carneiro, in the electoral system the goal is to find “convergence solutions that guarantee proportionality of political representation and are capable of strengthening the relationship between elected officials and voters.”
“After the formation of the government, within six months, after a dialogue that should be as wide as possible, with the democratic forces, we must be able to present to the Assembly of the Republic serious proposals with the aim of guaranteeing changes that will be important for the quality of democratic life,” – he said.
At this stage, regarding the review of the electoral system, he concluded with the following note regarding possible future reform: “It is important to ensure conditions of controllability and predictability.”
Referring to his proposal to regulate “lobbying” activities, which forms part of the transparency chapter of his policy proposal, the Socialist leadership candidate said the principle was already included in the government’s current programme.
“We defend the requirements for internal democratic life in the PS, so I realized that there should be a debate between the various candidates for the post of leader. For reasons that remain to be seen, there were those who did not understand it that way,” he said, alluding critically to Pedro Nuno’s candidacy for the Saints.
José Luis Carneiro then advocated for a stronger culture of accountability on the part of all sovereign bodies, which is why he intends to regulate the activities of interest groups.
“We must ensure that the exercise of democratic political power always respects the public interest,” he added.