Liberal and Admiral fight to see who gives Belém more guarantees of independence

Presidential candidates Henrique Gouveia e Melo and João Cotrim de Figueiredo were in confrontation, this Thursday night, on RTP.

Only when this topic of independence is that the former Chief of Staff of the Navy and the former leader of the Liberal Initiative were in direct disagreement.

The admiral began by advocating that the non-partisan character was an advantage of his candidacy.

Cotrim de Figueiredo disagreed and argued that belonging to a party is not “registration” for a future President of the Republic.

Gouveia e Melo admitted that previous presidents such as Mário Soares and Cavaco Silva “were much superior to their party space”. However, he considers that “at the moment we don’t have people like that”.

Cotrim de Figueiredo stated that it is superior to the political space of ILwhile Henrique Gouveia suggested that his opponent will bring “ideological concepts” to the President of the Republic.

“You won’t be able to be independent”accused the admiral. At the end of the debate, which lasted around 30 minutes and was moderated by journalist Vítor Gonçalves, the MEP from the Liberal Initiative considered that this was one of the biggest lies they had said about themselves so far.

Gouveia e Melo and Cotrim de Figueiredo had some more tense moments, especially when the former president of the Liberal Initiative counterattacked and sought to point out dangers inherent in people with whom the admiral is associated.

“Independence in relation to party machines can also be seen in the people around us and I do not have anyone in my candidacy who has a party background like you have in yours of people who were senior leaders of the PSD, for example, and party machine people. Not to mention other structures within your candidacy that were, for example, responsible for José Sócrates propaganda machine. This for me is much more worrying than belonging to a party”, attacked Cotrim Figueiredo.

In his response, the former Chief of Staff of the Navy indirectly targeted Cotrim Figueiredo’s business experience applied to his duties as head of state.

“The Presidency of the Republic is not a board of directors. It is a service to the nation that requires maximum rigor, maximum responsibility and maximum distance as well”, he highlighted.

Freemasonry came into debate…

Further on, Gouveia e Melo reacted to a recent allusion by Cotrim de Figueiredo about the existence of candidates for Belém who belong to Freemasonry. As he had already done on Rádio Observador, the admiral denied belonging to any Masonic obedience.

“I am not a Freemason”he stressed, but later pointing out that Freemasonry “is widespread throughout Portuguese society”.

“I don’t believe that Cotrim de Figueiredo can clearly say that there is no Freemason either in the Liberal Initiative or in its supporters”, he said, with the former leader liberal mentioning that he is not a Freemason either and commenting that he only wears an “apron in the kitchen”.

“I don’t even wear an apron in the kitchen”retorted Gouveia e Melo.

And the points of convergence

In the rest of the debate, there were several points on which the two opponents converged, especially when faced with the news that there were wiretaps covering former Prime Minister António Costa – a case in which the two defended quick explanations from the Attorney General’s Office and which led them to defend a reform of the justice system.

Already reform of labor legislationCotrim de Figueiredo and Gouveia e Melo agreed that there is a need to make thealthough the former Chief of Staff of the Navy warned that it is necessary to safeguard the core of workers’ rights.

And a privatization of TAP, defended by the liberal MEP, was admitted by the former coordinator of the vaccination process against covid-19, but since safeguarding national strategic interests.