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The candidate for the presidency of the Republic Ana Gomes defended a rigorous control of European funds, to avoid “theft”, and told the Government that “it does not occur to her” to go ahead with the current proposal to modify the public procurement regulations .
In a public session at the Teatro da Trindade in Lisbon, Ana Gomes was questioned by the moderator of the debate, the former director of information for RTP Paulo Dentinho, about the allocation of European funds that will arrive in Portugal in the next decade.
“This is a most urgent issue for all citizens: if we stop monitoring, asking for accounts, participating in the decisions to allocate these funds, then we hand over the country, because then there will be theft, as there was in the past “, forewarned.
The former PS MEP linked this issue to the Government bill, which has been debated in Parliament since June, and which aims to simplify public procurement processes, having received criticism from various entities, including the Court of Auditors.
“We have to tell the Government not even to think about moving forward, as it is, with this proposal to modify the public procurement regime,” he appealed, defending the strengthening of control structures.
“I am trying to understand what is happening in the Court of Accounts, I am being very diplomatic, allow me for now …”, he joked, alluding to the news that the Government did not renew the current president of this entity. Vítor Caldeira.
“There are no coronations”
In a first intervention referring to October 5, before answering questions from nine previously registered people, Ana Gomes made an implicit allusion to the advantage in the polls of the current president of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has not yet announced his re-election . “In a Republic there are no coronations or early victories, it is the people who decide,” she stressed, making a special appeal to young people to vote in the presidential elections in January of next year.
“I understand who is disenchanted with politics and politicians, but we are all called to build a better Portugal. (…) I appeal to young people to fight against apathy, do not abstain, do not stop being indignant, do not give up on Portugal, “he appealed. Ana Gomes repeated several times the phrase that “it is the government who governs”, but defended that “the President of the Republic” has a great capacity to influence the government and its priorities.
“Whoever we elect as President of the Republic must take care of Portugal, of everyone and in particular of those who need it most. It is intolerable to allow poverty and injustice to increase in this country due to the crisis. Children, the elderly and the vulnerable have to be especially protected and supported, ”he said, considering that“ the time has come to make democracy more demanding ”.
“I am a socialist, I have never stopped fighting for principles, values and common goods and I will never give up on Portugal,” he assured, having in the audience the former Minister of Labor of the PS Governments, Paulo Pedroso (who is part of its structure of campaign), the socialist deputy Pedro Bacelar Vasconcelos and the former deputy Catarina Marcelino.
In the session of almost two hours of answering questions from nine previously chosen people – all on the stage of the theater, with Ana Gomes in the center – one of the most political focused on a possible coexistence between a government and a president of the Socialist republic.
“This is a standalone app. I said when I announced the candidacy that I would accept all support from the democratic field, but I would not commit myself to anyone, ”he warned. Invoking her personal and professional career, Ana Gomes says that she has shown that, being from the PS, she has not had “peias” to criticize her in-laws, when she understands that “she deserves to be criticized.
Against hate
There were several questions about the rights of minorities – among the chosen participants there was a Guinean student, a Portuguese gypsy ethnic group or a Syrian refugee – and the candidate was asked if she agreed with those who say that there is no racism in Portugal .
“There is racism in Portugal and in other countries. I do not think that Portugal is more racist than other countries, but it is in denial, a country with our colonial history only has to value the diversity we have, “he said.
Without mentioning any of the candidates announced in the race to Belém, Ana Gomes rebelled against those who “sow hatred, division and violence.” “The Constitution of the Portuguese Republic is very clear: Nazi and fascist philosophies and actions are prohibited, and this is an aspect that all agents of the State in Portugal must take into account, from the President of the Republic to the youngest cadet of the security forces “.
At the end of the session, Ana Gomes reaffirmed that she will not accept financial contributions for her campaign of more than one hundred euros and challenged the rest of the candidates to do the same.
