Marta Temido responds to Luis Montenegro: “The Portuguese know the reasons that forced me to resign”

The head of the PS list from the Europeans considered this Monday that the June elections have “its own value” and are a “very important dispute”, but refused that they would become a new test of the strength of the PSD after the legislative ones.

Speaking to reporters at Lisbon’s Constitutional Court after the PS’s list of candidates was handed over to the European Parliament, Marta Temido was asked whether the June 9 elections could be a new test of strength between the PS and PSD after the 2018 elections. Legislative elections on March 10.

“No, we do not have this fear, because we know that the Portuguese, especially throughout the campaign, will be able to understand that this is a different dispute, this is a very important dispute in which there are institutions in which our future is at stake a lot. Therefore, these elections have their value and the Portuguese, even in the latest Eurostat survey, show that they are well aware of the importance of Europe and are increasingly aware of it,” he said.

Marta Temido did not want to comment on the Prime Minister’s criticism that the PS chose a man who was once a government official and who left the government.

“The Portuguese know me, the Portuguese know my path, they know the reasons that made me resign and it would be inelegant to comment on that comment,” he responded.

Asked whether she would carry out her mandate to the end, the former health minister said she had “no plan for that.”

“This is the only answer that I can give you at the moment, this is that the European project is a very important project and there has also been a lot of talk about it, that it needs to somehow be made profitable in terms of availability. The Member of the European Parliament will think about such opportunity,” he added.

Asked whether running for the Lisbon City Council was out of the question, Marta Temido said she understood that “in the life of cities we have to face many of the great challenges of our time” and that she believed that local government leadership was tempting activity. project for her.

“But it doesn’t mean more than what those words mean. This is appreciation, not commitment to the project, commitment to the project is what this team is doing, in which I am only temporarily at the top of the list, because we will be all members of the European Parliament with the Portuguese,” he stressed.

Regarding several PS candidates for the European Parliament who were also elected to the Assembly of the Republic, the head of the list said that they are “candidates of the people, of the Portuguese” and will “defend the same values ​​and defend the same causes.”

The Socialist candidate stressed that the PS list “intends to be a sign that citizens of different origins can be in Europe, representing the Portuguese and carrying their voice further into Europe.”

Marta Temido noted that the PS is a “deeply Europeanist party” and that it is “committed to an active position in relation to the European project,” believing that “European architecture has tools that, if used correctly, allow us to better respond to the expectations of European and Portuguese citizens.”

“Our political family at the European level represents the greatest progressive force and we have a lot of work to do to make the results of Europe become a reality in our daily lives, in terms of a better quality of life, in terms of a more democratic society and in terms of realizing the great European a project that is a project of peace and prosperity for all,” he defended.

The PS won the last European elections in 2019, managing to elect nine MEPs.

Marta Temido was present at the Constitutional Court, accompanied by other PS candidates for the European Parliament such as Ana Catarina Mendes or João Soares.

PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos and second candidate Francisco Assis were not present when the list was presented.