The Deputy General Secretary of the PS stressed on Tuesday that democracy requires stability and respect for mandates given by the people in a speech in which he expressed concern about the “impact” that populism has on democratic law.
These positions were expressed by João Torres in a speech delivered by him at a solemn commemorative meeting on 25 April in the Assembly of the Republic in the presence of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza.
In his speech “number two” of the leadership of the PS did not directly touch on the idea of the head of state using his power to dissolve parliament, but left a message that “the improvement of democracy means respect for the people’s will, stability, mandates given by the people.”
“Improving democracy is about ensuring that political democracy and social democracy go hand in hand, because populism is the result of exclusion. The improvement of democracy is the rejection of life as a minefield, where those who pass, passed, as the neo- and ultra-liberal views of a society based on individualism and the denial of equal opportunities suggested and offered,” he said.
From the point of view of the Deputy General Secretary of the PS, “Today, attacks on democracy come from the very beginning through those who sit in the far right of the semicircle.”
“These are the ones who use old formulas like populism and demagogy — the eternal allies of ignorance, political illiteracy — to sabotage faith in democracy, respect for pluralism, the contract between representatives and those who represent them. trying to punch holes in the wall. progress with the aim of the most shameful failures, with racist, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, inhumane policies,” he said, referring to Chega.
But he also cautioned the political field of the democratic right.
“As folk wisdom says, the one who steals is just as much a thief as the one who agrees. There are no restrictions or taboos when a vain lust for power matters, no matter what the cost,” he said.
In his speech, João Torres mentioned the founding of the PS on 19 April 1973 and the role played by the first leader of his party and the former president of the Republic, Mário Soares.
“The greatest name of Mario Soares and his founding comrades of PS established from that day on the political aims which, by the will of the people, materialized and transformed the country: a European, not an imperial, Portugal; equal lusophony between nations and States; Western-style democracy with governments based on a solid parliamentary base and semi-presidential regimes that together respect and balance the separation of powers,” he added.