After controversy over the connection between immigration and insecurity, PSD President Luis Montenegro decided this Thursday to leave a message of welcome addressed to the immigrant in Leiria.
In front of the media, Luis Montenegro exchanged short words with an immigrant who was on the Avenida Herois de Angola during the passage of the delegation of the Democratic Alliance (AD) during a street action in the center of Leiria this Thursday afternoon.
“We need you here, and stay here, okay?” the SDP president told him. “I like Portugal,” the man replied. “And we like you here too, and why are you staying here, okay? Good luck and count on us,” confirmed Luis Montenegro.
When the PSD president left, the immigrant, who spoke Portuguese with difficulty, told reporters that he came from Senegal, had been in Portugal for about eight months, was currently unemployed, and revealed that he did not know who Luis Montenegro was: “Ah, Is he a candidate?
This conversation took place three days after former Prime Minister and former PSD President Pedro Passos Coelho gave a controversial speech at an AD rally in Faro in which he suggested that Portugal was experiencing increasing instability linked to immigration. .
In Leiria, Luis Montenegro was again asked about the polls, which he put into perspective, calling on journalists “with all due respect” to contribute to the “pedagogy” on the issue: “It is not between day and day, with the swing one more point behind , one more point forward, and the number of undecideds increases. Don’t believe it, because I don’t believe it either.”
The SDP chairman stated that he was not worried about fluctuations of “one or two points” and, based on past electoral events, stated that “a lot of time is spent discussing this issue and then on election day something happens and happens to use of force.” .
Luis Montenegro, backed by dozens of supporters of the PSD/CDU-PP/NPM coalition, said he expected a “high level of participation” in the early parliamentary elections on March 10 and had a “sincere desire for change” in the elections. Street.
The former SDP parliamentary leader presented the AD as a “safe change,” a project “that wants to provide more economic growth, that wants to provide higher wages, that wants to provide more public services, but it is not a gamble.” .
When asked if he was afraid that the presence of PSD/CDU-PP government figures who were in power during the Troika, such as Passos Coelho, would cause the AD to lose voters in the center, he referred this analysis to commentary programs.
“No one in society does this analysis, in the daily life of the Portuguese this analysis does not exist,” he added.
At the very beginning of the street action, Luis Montenegro heard a chestnut seller complaining that a young activist had thrown paint on him on Wednesday: “This has not been done, it is very ugly, we must respect all the guys. upcoming.”
The SDP chairman thanked him “with all my heart” and stressed that the episode had not caused serious damage: “I am blameless, I just have a slight fever here, nothing serious.”
He confirmed to reporters that he does not intend to increase security measures: “I feel good, I feel safe and I hope that I will continue to feel good and safe without the need for this cooperation.”
“If the situation ever changes, it is clear that democracy requires that people involved in political activities have complete freedom of movement and expression, and that is what I intend to do for the rest of the campaign,” he added.
From Leiria, the AD campaign headed to the Santarem region, where Montenegro visited the Rio Mayor training center for outstanding athletes and committed to valuing sport at the level of public policy along with culture, although it noted that the priority would be to go into areas such as health. education or housing.
“Good sport and good culture affect health as well as education,” he said, acknowledging that a governing government could provide tax breaks to those who fund sports associations.
The PSD President received a cap with the symbol of the national team from swimmer Miguel Nascimento, who had already qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris. “It helped me a lot yesterday [quarta-feira]”, he joked.
Two former PSD sports ministers were present during this visit: Emidio Guerreiro and Hermínio Loureiro.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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