Former PSD leader Luis Márquez Méndez admitted on Thursday that the traumas of the troika era still remain, but said that the PS finance minister would have taken the same measures as the Social Democrats.
This Thursday, the TV commentator was a guest at a dinner as part of the PSD Summer University conference and was asked about the government’s choice of former Finance Minister María Luis Albuquerque as European Commissioner, which has drawn criticism from across the country, including from the left, by several PS figures who linked the former ruler with the austerity period and the “troika”.
“This decision is a correct and positive decision, and María Luis Albuquerque has the necessary qualities to fulfill this role,” Márquez Méndez began.
The former SDP leader between 2005 and 2007, however, acknowledged that “there is still a lot of trauma from the troika era,” a period that “required many sacrifices,” and said he understands “some resentment.”
“Everyone has the right to have their own opinion, but we must be strict and avoid demagogy,” he said, arguing that if the PS had won the 2011 elections and governed the country, the measures would have been exactly the same as those envisaged in the agreement signed with the troika.
“The troika was in charge, the speech could be different, the communication could be different. But let’s be frank and honest and not demagogue: under a socialist or social democratic finance minister, the measures were like that because they were like that, which the creditors imposed on Portugal,” he said.
In his speech, which lasted about two and a half hours, Mendes reiterated the conviction he had already expressed in his SIC television commentary regarding the next state budget.
“This is a soap opera without much substance: the budget will be passed, period. I think this debate is very bad, I would prefer the debate to focus on what the content of the document will be,” he urged.
Hours after telling the media he was “closer than ever” to deciding on a possible presidential run, Mendez dropped a few lines about what the country’s plans for the coming years should be, similar to the 50-year plans for public education and health care, on April 25.
A “richer, fairer and more cultured” country with “lower taxes and higher wages” and greater ambitions were some of the ideas he left for the 100 or so young people present, such as “a more accountable electoral system, especially in the area of mentality.”
“We must put an end to the idea that politics is like football, that our party is the same as our football club. A fight like Benfica-Sporting cannot exist in political life,” he said.
Asked what role the president of the republic could play in a fragmented party system, Mendes said it should be a role of “mediation, arbitration and unification of positions.”
Without referring to Chegi’s proposal for a referendum on immigration, the former PSD leader believes that the issue is “very little discussed in Portugal and that the few who do discuss it do so in a distorted way.”
“We need to resolve the issue as it should be (…) Today, the prerequisite for the welfare state to be as it should be is immigration with the letter “i”, he emphasized.
Foreign policy also figured prominently in Mendes’ lengthy speech, with “students” asking several questions about the North American presidential election and a TV commentator warning of the “drama and risk” of a Trump victory.
“I am optimistic, I think that the Democrats will win the elections in the United States. Of course, this is my wish, but this is also my forecast,” he said.
For Mendez, this choice between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris “is not a partisan issue, not more left or more right, it is a fundamental issue of principle of great democratic principles and peace.”
“Not understanding this does not mean having the slightest understanding of foreign policy,” he said.
Recently, the general secretary of the PSD, Hugo Soares, told the newspaper Expresso that he would have a “very difficult” time choosing between Donald Trump or Kamala Harris if he were a North American voter.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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