Miguel Pereira da Silva / LUSA
The candidate for President of the Republic, João Cotrim Figueiredo
Don’t vote for Ventura, but don’t vote blank either. Seguro “wants Portugal to stand still” and Cotrim, between him and a Ventura “moving backwards”, prefers to “stand still”.
João Cotrim de Figueiredo stated this Tuesday that will not vote blank in the second round of the presidential elections, despite once again considering that the scenario emerging from the first round is “terrible for the Portuguese”.
In an interview with CNN Portugal, the former leader of the Liberal Initiative admitted that he understood those who chose to vote blank, but ruled that option out for himself. In the second round there are only two candidates: Cotrim did not say whether he will vote for António José Seguro, but last Friday he already assured that he would.
“One of the candidates wants Portugal to go backwards and the other wants Portugal to stand still. The choice that came out of this first round is a terrible choice for the Portuguese”, said Cotrim, who was third, with 16%, in the first round. And between the two options, he prefers to “stand still”.
The former presidential candidate and MEP also criticized the way in which, he says, André Ventura has been placed in political isolation. He considered the cordon sanitaire around the Chega leader “a brutal error” and argued that what he described as a “parade of support” for a single candidate ends up favoring Ventura, by reinforcing the idea that he is “the only candidate from a certain field”.
Cotrim de Figueiredo also pointed to a climate of pressure on electoral choices, speaking of an “inquisition” and “censorship” surrounding the public debate. The candidate also defended that any decision at the polls is “democratic” and insisted that he understands the difficulty of the moment, admitting “total demotivation” in the second round and reiterating empathy for those who choose not to participate or to vote blank.
The debate between the two finalists is scheduled for this Tuesday, at 8:30 pm, and will be broadcast on RTP, SIC and TVI.
