Luís Marques Mendes’ candidacy accuses his opponent Henrique Gouveia e Melo of slander and populism. On the social network X, Marques Mendes’ campaign director writes that the retired admiral is “specializing in saying bad things”.
Since the towards the Presidential elections, that the candidacies of Henrique Gouveia e Melo and Luís Marques Mendes are involved in frequent exchanges of accusations. The most recent one happened on the social network X.
Although Luís Marques Mendes avoided questions from journalists on the topic, campaign director Duarte Marques broke his silence.
“Gouveia e Melo specialized in saying bad things about LMM [Luís Marques Mendes]. He is without useful speech, in despair about the polls and obsessed with the strength of LMM. Let him follow his path of slander. We are not here to respond to populism. Our concern is to speak to the country”, he writes.
But “by the way”, he continues, Duarte Marques takes the opportunity to launch a challenge to the reserve admiral candidate for Belém:
“Don’t Gouveia e Melo have an idea for the country? Do you only know how to say bad things? Can’t build anything positive? Is this the new policy you promised? (…) A new idea? I only ask for one.”
These publications, it should be noted, come after, from the Azores, he insisted on the need for “transparency” in public life, stressing that the head of state must be known for his profile and independence.
Gouveia e Melo spoke, in statements to journalists, during a visit to the fishing village of Rabo de Peixe, in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, on the island of São Miguel, having considered that his opponent has not enlightened the Portuguese about questions raised about his professional career.
“Only if I was distracted. Do you already know who the clients were and what interests he defended? It’s a question that was raised and that, naturally, the population will have this question in mind. I just remembered what Dr. Luís Marques Mendes’ profession is, in addition to being a political commentator. It was the question I asked and what interests this profession leverages or can leverage within the presidential role. I think all Portuguese people want to know that”, he maintained.
Refusing to make any attack, Gouveia e Melo supported these statements with the need for transparency. “That’s what I think all the Portuguese people want too, to know exactly what they do, how they do it, who they do it with, these are normal things.”
