Manuel de Almeida / Lusa
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with Admiral Henrique Gouveia and Melo
Admiral confirmed that he is a candidate for the presidency of the Republic. The announcement was made only four days from the legislative elections.
It was the most poorly kept secret in Portuguese politics, in recent years: Henrique Gouveia and Melo this Wednesday that He is a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic.
The Admiral wants to combat “internal instability” in Portugal but also warns that the “world has changed a lot” in recent times: “The Ukraine War has worsened, the tension in Europe has also worsened, and the election of Mr. Trump as president of the United States has changed the international configuration.”
The official presentation will be in late May but the Announcement of the candidacy was made just four days from the legislative elections.
Rui Rocha didn’t like. The leader of the liberal initiative (IL) criticized Gouveia and Melo for wanting to be the focus of attention, considering that it is a bad beginning for those who want to be president of the Republic.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to a Metalomechanical Company in Pombal, Leiria district, Rui Rocha said he did not want to “make great comments” on the subject, because if he is currently “deciding the future parliament of the country”.
“I believe there was a reference of candidate Gouveia and Melo to the fact that Not wanting to be a protagonistbut it seems to me a bad principle that someone who is applying for another election to wait for three [n.d.r. quatro] days before the legislative elections to present, looking like It is a candidate who wantsin fact, take an approach in which it is the focus”He criticized.
Alluding to MARCELO REBELO DE SOUSARui Rocha said that if any criticism the current President of the Republic deserves, it is “this to become the focus at many times” and considered it to be desirable that the next head of state is “more balanced From the point of view of your media presence ”.
Asked if it seems to him as soon as Gouveia and Melo started his candidacy badly, Rui Rocha replied: “It doesn’t seem to me that it started very well”.
For your side, in the interview with, the Admiral assured that it is very different from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa: “We are very different people and, if the Portuguese consider that I have conditions to be president of the Republic, my way of acting will be very different from the current president.”
