Tiago Petinga / Lusa
Marques Mendes shot against Ventura, Gouveia and Melo and Rui Rio. Candidate is increasingly positioned in the center: “I want to represent all the Portuguese”.
Luís Marques Mendes is increasingly positioned as the candidate who seeks stability, experience and independence, as a bridge builder and president who avoids crises and privileges dialogue. But it does not fail to send their opponents in the race for the succession of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In to SIC Notícias this Wednesday, the candidate for head of state, Marques Mendes was very critical of the inexperience of Henrique Gouveia and Melo. “Every time you talk, I get worried”these.
The insistence on using dissolution as a political instrument would be a “Political error” and a “constitutional error”pointed out the former commander. “Admitting this hypothesis is to create instability and the PR must be a stability factor and not instability.”
“Does it come? Of course I will give possession, if …”
O He arrives It was also one of the topics that was most on the table in the interview. Marques Mendes argued that if the arrival overcomes the legislative elections, the Constitution must be respected and its leader must be nominated to form a government. But with a condition.
In this scenario, Mendes would require a “written document” with constitutional guaranteesif the party’s electoral program contained measures contrary to the Constitution, such as life imprisonment or death penalty.
“If it comes to win the elections someday, of course I will give possession; I will appoint the Leader of the arrival because these are the rules of the Constitution,” he said, stating that he has “respect” by the voters of arrival.
But “Imagine that the arrival of the arrival program points to life imprisonment or death penalty, the Constitution does not allow it, therefore, if the program has measures of this genre, I will require a written document with constitutional guarantees,” said the candidate. And if this document is not respected “there is no possession,” he said.
“Ventura? Want is confusion”
Hours before the interview at the AEP Foundation in Porto, the presidential candidate considered that opponent André Ventura wants to create “confusion, noise and provocation”.
“It’s a tactical play [a candidatura de Ventura]. He does not want to be president of the Republic, by the way and has publicly acknowledged it, ”said Marques Mendes: the leader of arrives what he wants is to“ make confusion, noise, provocation and make life even more difficult for the government ”.
The former PSD president stressed that André Ventura occupies “the field of radicalism and confusion” and wants to represent only part of the Portuguese. “While I want the field of peace and tranquility for people’s lives and I want to represent all the Portuguese,” he said.
“Rui Rio? Not even a word”
Already on the statements of the former president of the PSD and national representative of the candidacy of Gouveia and Melo, Rui Rio, who, in an interview with the newspaper 2 of RTP, that a victory of Marques Mendes would pave the way to a victory of arrival in the next legislatures, the presidential candidate refused to make comments.
“I don’t comment because I I have a campaign for positive and not a slander And therefore, not even a word, ”he said.
“Portugal is well seen out there”
The social democrat pointed out that Portugal has a “very strong image abroad” Because it lives, in various indicators, a very positive situation that, from a political point of view, never the image of Portugal in recent decades has been so strong abroad.
“Portugal is well seen out there, Portugal is prestigious out there,” he said, noting that Portugal was still 10 years ago was intervened by Troika and, 10 years later, has good financial results being, for this reason, seen as a success case.
“Who imagined, half a dozen years ago, that the great country in the European Union with debt problems was France and not Portugal? We sometimes like to self -make and do not value the positive things that are happening and that are merit of the country,” he said.
In his opinion, having, nowadays, a budgetary surplus is another reality that should be valued even more and that foreigners value. But despite the positive moment, Marques Mendes understood that ambition is needed and, for this, new policies are needed in the fiscal, justice and state domain.
“First, the economic ambition. We have to grow economically more than we are growing“, did you understand.
Corruption and political ethics
The presidential candidate also defended a firmer combat to corruptionpointing out failures in the field of investigation for lack of means.
“It is not possible to be years and years waiting for an investigation to end and reach trial. This is not possible, this is not justice, this is good for the populism,” he said.
In addition to this domain, Marques Mendes wants more ethical ambition in political life either by the political responsible or by society. “We cannot think that everything is okay in political life, it is not. The image of parties and politicians is not what has already been, because there is a great disappointment in the population,” he said.
Asked by journalists about, Marques Mendes said only that if there is an investigation it is natural that there are searches. Saying that no one is above the law, nor any person, nor any company, the presidential candidate has insisted that searches are searches are neither accusations nor convictions.
Foreign Law “In the Good Direction”
Marques Mendes also classified on Wednesday afternoon that of the Foreign Law, announced Wednesday by the Minister of Presidency, as more positive, worthy and human.
“I must say that these change proposals [à lei de estrangeiros] Which I met today seem positive to me, they seem to me to go in good direction, ”he said, adding:“ If these corrections are made on the line of what was proposed today I think the law It will get better than in its initial version. ”
