The general secretary of the Social Democratic Party, Pedro Nuno Santos, said this Saturday that the party will “support a candidate” in the 2026 presidential elections, “something it has not done for a long time.”
In his speech at the 24th National Congress of the Socialist Party in Lisbon, Pedro Nuno Santos said that, as part of his mandate as Socialist Secretary General, the party will face “five electoral acts”: regional elections in the Azores, legislative elections, European, municipal and presidential.
We will “win regional, European, local and presidential elections with the confidence that the PS will support a candidate in the presidential elections, as has not been done for a long time,” he said.
Pedro Nuno Santos added that the party would support this candidate, “paying tribute to the best Presidents of the Republic that Portugal has ever had, Mário Soares and Jorge Sampaio”, which received a standing ovation from the entire audience.
PS The Secretary General praises his predecessor, reaps the laurels and attacks correctly
The PS General Secretary believed that he had matured under the government of António Costa, he defended that he worked and that only those who do make mistakes, accusing the PSD President of having an empty project and being ashamed of the past.
These positions were expressed in the first speech of Pedro Nuno Santos at the 24th National Congress of the PS, in which he spoke about his career in the leadership of António Costa and criticized all the political right-wing forces. He never mentioned PKP or Blok de Esquerda and praised Jerigonça’s experience between November 2015 and October 2021.
During António Costa’s government, Pedro Nuno Santos believed that he had gained value as a person, matured as a politician and gained experience when he was Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs and then Minister of Infrastructure and Housing.
“I have witnessed the limitations, difficulties and resistance faced by those who have and want to do the work. I have also witnessed that only those who do or try to do it make mistakes – unlike those who do nothing and do not try anything. I can assure you that they never make mistakes. But because they never make mistakes, they never learn. They never improve. They never develop,” he said, receiving applause.
In this context, he drew a line of demarcation in relation to the right, especially in relation to the SDP: “The big line between us and them is between those who decide, who does, who invest in the progress of the country, and those who will never go beyond the old and outdated models from Restelo.”
As for PSD President Luis Montenegro, he began by saying that he intends to hide behind the myth of the AD (Democratic Alliance).
The PSD, from the point of view of Pedro Nuno Santos, “is so ashamed of its recent history that, in an attempt to unite, it had to go on a campaign to return a project yellowed by more than 40 years of age.”
“With this stunt, the PSD and CDS intend to make people forget the period when they ruled together, from 2011 to 2015, when they cut wages and pensions, caused unemployment and public debt to explode, increased taxes and carried out privatizations without taking this into account the recent legacy of the SDP and SDS,” he said.
“But the Portuguese do not forget [o executivo de Passos Coelho]They have a good memory, they do not allow themselves to be deceived by this juggling act, just as they do not forget when they also ruled together, between 2002 and 2004, when Durau Barroso went to Brussels and left the country in chaos,” he said. before turning specifically to the leader of the Social Democrats.
“The truth is that no one knows Luis Montenegro’s project for the country. After more than a year and a half under the leadership of Luis Montenegro, we have a void. Emptiness of project, emptiness of leadership, emptiness of vision; it is a lack of trust, a lack of experience and, as we have all noticed, a lack of solutions,” he accused.
According to Pedro Nuno Santos, because politics is “horrifyingly empty,” two parties have emerged to the right of the PSD: the Liberal Initiative and Chega.
“If the Liberal Initiative looks more like a marketing and advertising agency busy creating allegorical posters, the truth is that behind all the fuss lies a project for radical transformation in the way we organize our collective lives. a deeply individualistic project that “attempts to transform selfish individualism and indifference to others into supposed moral values. And sees ‘fiscal shock’ as a simplistic and false solution to every problem in our society,” he warned.
Regarding Chegi, the PS Secretary General noted that “apart from the loud noise that is characteristic of him, he hopes that no one will consider his proposals,” since “he has already protected everything from him.”
“Its sole purpose is, first, to feed on their fears, apprehensions and grievances; then strengthen them; and finally turn them into speech of hatred and disgust towards scapegoats, be they politicians, immigrants or minorities. The recipe for this tactic is simple, as is the result: lofty rhetoric that has never and will never solve a single problem,” he added.
“Do you know why we didn’t complain about the work under the SDP/SDS governments? Because there was no work. Stopping, retreating, canceling is always easier than moving forward. They were always the old and outdated old men of Restelo. “
The PS leader received praise for his exploits. “I can’t hide my pride in exiting TAP with a profit, as well as CP, which posted a positive balance sheet for the second year in a row,” he explains.
Pedro Nuno Santos admits that “there are problems that need to be solved”
The PS general secretary acknowledged that “not everything has been done well” in the last eight years of government and that “there are still problems that need to be solved”, but said that it is the Socialists who are in the “best position” to do this. .
Pedro Nuno Santos said that while the Socialists have “reasons to be proud of the work done over the last eight years”, they also know how to “suggest with humility to the Portuguese that not everything has been done well and that there is still a lot of work ahead.”
“We are not ignoring or hiding, but rather we want to solve the problems that we still have,” he said.
The PS secretary general said he knows that Portugal still has a “simple and undiversified economy” and that it is still “far from the wages that the Portuguese aspire to.”
“We have problems in public services, in health care, in public schools, there are difficulties with access to housing. We do not hide or ignore the problems that still persist in Portugal,” he stressed.
Pedro Nuno Santos emphasized that “the project of the Socialist Party is by its nature an unfinished project,” stressing that the PS “has work to do and problems to solve.”
“We will never, ever hide them, we will never, never ignore them, we know that PS is in the best position to continue to address them,” he said.
According to Pedro Nuno Santos, “the PS must be able to listen to the people, listen to the workers and businessmen who together create wealth” in Portugal, and also “respect pensioners and respond to the just aspirations of young people.” “.
“It is together with all the Portuguese that I, as Secretary General of the PS and candidate for Prime Minister, intend to open a new cycle in the country and guarantee answers to the problems that the whole country faces and for which it can no longer wait. “, he emphasized.
Author: morning Post This Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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