Rui Tavares is convinced that the left will win, but warns that it could “win better or worse”

Livre spokesman Rui Tavares was convinced that the left would win the next legislative elections, but warned that they could “win better or worse”, asking for a vote that “won’t leave everything the same”.

“The left can and should win this election, the left can be a bulwark against the authoritarian temptations of some, but we also know that the left can win this election better or worse. They can win by learning from the mistakes and shortcomings of the past, or by learning nothing. You can win with tactics or a strategy for the future,” said Rui Tavares.

This position of Livre’s sole deputy was stated at a public meeting in Almada with candidates from the Setúbal constituency at the Livraria Casa das Artes, the first initiative since the start of the campaign in which the leader made a speech rather than just statements. to the outskirts.

With the usual warnings against the far right, Tavares insisted on distinguishing Livre from other left-wing political forces such as the PS, BE or PCP, while calls for useful voices multiply.

The MP referred to one of the proposals of the election program “Social Inheritance”, which aims to provide young people aged 18 to 35 with access to the amount that could arise from the taxation of a “large inheritance” or through the monetization of savings certificates.

Without naming BE, Tavares mentioned it indirectly, saying that some left parties have already criticized the proposal: “This idea obviously does not fit into the dogma, into the script, and they do not trust it because it is new. “

“Livre is not afraid to offer something new, he is not afraid to convince people that they need to invest in something new and build a social, environmental and democratic state worthy of the 21st century,” he countered.

Tavares concluded his speech by expressing confidence in the victory of the left, but asking that Livre be strengthened.

“From today until the 10th, the left will win these elections, but voting for the left does not leave everything the same, it is a vote for the Livre,” he urged.

In his speech, which lasted about twenty minutes, Tavares returned to the founding of the Livre, recalling that in 2014 the “poppy party” had already warned about the dangers of the far right and advocated a rapprochement with the left, believing that “at a certain point the Livre seems to have always anticipated political times.”

“Now we are no longer talking about what will happen, we are talking about what has already happened, both for good and for evil,” he said, arguing that we should learn from the “mistakes of lack of coordination” that led to the end of the 2019 and 2021 legislatures, with the “Geringons” and the “arrogance” of the absolute majority of the PS.

The leader concluded that “now the time of Livre and the time of politics are increasingly synchronized.”

Criticizing the far right, the historian warned that “it is not enough to have honest politicians against unscrupulous politicians, it takes the entire population,” through “respect for the work of the press” or “the solidity of institutions.”

Confident of electing a deputy in Setúbal, Tavares also promised to reintroduce the proposal for a Charter of Rights for Senior Citizens, which remained within the competence of parliament.

Earlier, the head of the Setubal list, Paulo Muacho, assured that the party would not “wage a war of position in parliament” and noted that “the narrative that they are trying to convey that the election result has already been determined and there will be a right-wing majority is not true.”

“We will continue to fight for a left majority, and this majority will count on Livre,” he said.

Geisy Fernandez, “number two”, complained that the far right was using foreigners “as a weapon to incite hatred and disinformation” and accused the former prime minister of “normalizing this speech”.