The President of the Liberal Initiative (IL) and the head of the European Party list expressed concern in Braga about the lack of information shown by young Portuguese regarding these elections.
Taking advantage of an academic evening on Wednesday, Rui Rocha and João Cotrim de Figueiredo hit the bars near the University of Minho to raise awareness among young students about the importance of participating in elections.
The initiative was planned on the day the latest Eurobarometer was launched before the European elections, indicating that in Portugal, 82% of the population aged 15 to 24 do not know the election date.
“Unfortunately, this is not only alarming, but also not very surprising,” Luce João Cotrim de Figueiredo said. For the IL candidate, the lack of knowledge relates not only to the election date, but also to the importance of European issues in the lives of Portuguese families. He therefore said it was the “responsibility of politicians and parties” to take to the field to raise awareness of the need to participate in elections and the importance of European issues.
“It is partly for this reason that we here in Braga take advantage of the academic evening, when many young people are on the streets, to raise awareness and hope that they will do the same, along with the rest of their families, about the importance of voting,” – he said.
He recalled that the elections are scheduled for June 9, but there is an opportunity to vote on the 2nd, so long weekends “cannot serve as an excuse” for abstaining.
“I don’t want to sugarcoat a pill that’s hard to sugarcoat, but I do want to say that we have some reasons to be optimistic, no matter what, that the work we need to do will produce results, and we have there will not be an abnormally high level of abstinence,” he added.
IL President Rui Rocha also expressed concern about Eurobarometer data, which shows that “there is still a big lack of information” regarding the date of the European Championship and the nature of the elections themselves.
“I believe that there is a lot of work to be done, but the elections are still more than a month and a half away and it is natural that as we get closer to the date, people will become more attentive,” he admitted. .
Stressing that IL “is the party of youth,” Rui Rocha emphasized the importance of “arruada” in bars near the University of Minho.
“Such a presence is very important to raise awareness among young people about the importance of voting on June 9, on the one hand, and on the other hand, IL is a party of young people and therefore makes sense. that we are here with them, it is always the audience with whom we are especially pleased,” he noted.
In the June elections, IL’s main goal was to elect a Portuguese liberal MP to the European Parliament for the first time.
“I never like to show overconfidence or lack of ambition, and so let’s say that what is strategically determined, which is to place a Portuguese Liberal MP in the European Parliament for the first time, is our main goal. We are confident that we will achieve this and as the campaign progresses we will have the opportunity to revise this target upward if necessary,” said João Cotrim de Figueiredo.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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