António Cotrim / Lusa
State Counselor and former PSD leader Luís Marques Mendes
Luís Montenegro confirmed this Monday that the PSD will support Luís Marques Mendes in the race to Belém. The prime minister said the former leader of social democrats “absolutely fulfills the requirements to be president of the Republic.
Speaking to journalists, this Monday, in Brussels, on the arrival of the first retreat of European Union leaders, Luís Montenegro confirmed the support of the PSD to a candidacy from Marques Mendes to Belém.
“I already had the occasion to say, even before there was a candidacy, what was the context in which the PSD would make its decision and had even the occasion to say […] that Dr. Luís Marques Mendes absolutely fulfills the requirements we have established to be alongside a winning candidacy that gives the country a horizon in the coming years of the presidential judiciary that brings reinforcement of political stability, reinforcement of strategic institutional cooperation and service to the Portuguese and those Portuguese, ”said the prime minister.
Former PSD president Luís Marques Mendes, this Sunday made his latest political comment program at SIC and said that as a presidential candidate will be causes “Ambition, stability and ethics”.
“I made this decision because I think, after the reflection I made, after hearing a lot of people, that It could be useful to the country. It was always the criterion I put. And above all there are two or three concerns that I have: ambition, stability and ethics, ”said Luís Marques Mendes, SIC, about the decision to apply for president of the Republic.
The state counselor said goodbye to his comment space in SIC’s “Jornal da Noite” four days before the presentation session of his candidacy for the 2026 presidential elections, which is scheduled for Thursday in Fafe, in the district of Braga.
The three pillars of Marques Mendes
Stressing that it would not anticipate his speech from Thursday, said that as a presidential candidate will defend political stability. “We cannot spend life on political crises, we cannot spend our lives in dissolution and early elections,” he said.
Marques Mendes added that “it is necessary to have some ability to make bridges.”
On the other hand, it promised “Introduce the theme of ethics with much more strength” In political life, noting that he made difficult decisions in this domain when he led the PSD between 2005 and 2007, with which within the party “almost no one agreed.”
“Today you need to go much further, but much further. A large part of the Portuguese is a little fed up with politicians, the political class. This is not good in terms of democracy. It is not resolved with populism. It is resolved is to make a greater appeal to ethics and deepen and develop a set of decisions for people to rely again, ”he said.
According to Marques Mendes, aware of these two causes, Portugal needs ambitionbecause it is “a country in general, resigned, it seems that even depressed, it seems that“What is proposed to combat if he is elected head of state.
“It’s a disease that we have little ambition,” he compared.
Asked about the importance of political experience to hold the position of President of the Republic, the former mayor and Minister replied: “I think it is almost decisive. Experience is always important in life. ”
“Experience is security, it is predictability, it is certain, it is knowing what counts,” he argued.
Marques Mendes refused to be “commenting on potential candidates”, especially Admiral Henrique Gouveia and Melo, former chief of the Armada Staff: “Because, I read, he’s on vacation. So let’s let him finish his vacation and then present his ideas, and then then we will confront ideas. ”
Faced with his opinion studies and questioned about his degree of confidence, Marques Mendes stressed that “the people decide, the people are sovereign” and that “in democracy there are neither early nor anticipated winners.”
“Any combat of this nature is always difficult. But what is difficult for me functions as a stimulus and an incentive, ”he said.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has already announced that he intends to mark the Presidential from 2026 to January 25Bringing a possible second lap on February 15, three weeks later.
Luís Marques Mendes, 67, a lawyer, will present his candidacy almost a year in advance, on February 6, in Fafe – on the eve of the date chosen by the previous head of state Jorge Sampaio, who presented himself as candidate on February 7, 1995.
