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“There are three words that I have to tell you today, as simple and direct as the innumerable conversations that I have had with you over the last five years, in any corner of Portugal, inside and outside,” he began by saying in his official speech, highlighting that “each Portuguese counts ”.
Of the three points that I wanted to put on record, the first confirmed what was already expected: “I am a candidate for the presidency of the Republic.”
The justification for the new request was followed. “Because we have a pandemic to deal with. Because we have an economic and social crisis to overcome. Because we have a unique opportunity to, in addition to overcoming the crisis, change Portugal for the better in the economy, but above all, in our day to day, reinforcing our social and territorial cohesion ”, continued Marcelo.
These solutions, he said, are achieved “by fighting poverty and exclusion, promoting employment, investment, growth and a better distribution of wealth.” According to the now candidate, these objectives must be achieved “with proximity, with illness, with democratic pluralism, but dialogue and convergence in the essentials.”
Marcelo said then that these actions will have to be taken by “an independent president, who does not destabilize, rather stabilizes, does not divide, but unites the Portuguese, and brings out the best in Portugal.”
“Because I am not going to leave in the middle of a demanding and painful journey, I am not going to escape my responsibilities, I am not going to change what we all know will be the adversities and unpopularities of tomorrow for the personal or family comfort of today. Because, as there are five years, I do a duty of conscience, “he said.
The late nature of the announcement, Marcelo said, came about for three reasons. “I announce this only today because I wanted to promulgate the electoral rules before calling the elections and because I wanted to call the elections as president before advancing as a citizen. And yet, and above all, because, given the worsening of the pandemic in the In the fall, I wanted to make fundamental decisions on the declaration of the second state of emergency, its renewals and its projection until January in times as sensitive as Christmas and the end of the year, as president and not as a candidate ”, he explained.
On November 24, the President of the Republic scheduled the presidential elections for January 24, 2021.
He followed the “second word” of the candidate, to “thank the Portuguese for their understanding and support since 2016.”
“Without them, it would have been more difficult to deal with the effort to get out of the excessive deficit and the banking crisis in 2016. With the tragedy of the fires in 2017. With the slowness of so many to understand the inorganic movements that erupted in 2018. With the The very long electoral process began that year and ended in 2019. And in particular, with the pandemic, the economic recession and unemployment in 2020, ”the President of the Republic listed.
Marcelo also wanted to specify the support “in the most sensitive moments”, highlighting the initiative of the first declaration of the state of emergency and successive renovations and the moments in which it cannot be “as close as expected” and wanted, also admitting the moments in which it will have acted. “too little or too much to anticipate or avoid expendable matchups.”
“You can be sure that I always tried to do the best that I knew and that I could, through thick and thin, and thinking about the public interest and never about personal interest,” he guaranteed.
Finally, using the “third word”, Marcelo wanted to ensure “that whoever is advancing for this election is exactly the same as who advanced five years ago.”
I am proudly Portuguese and therefore a universalist. Conventionally Catholic and, therefore, prioritizing the dignity of the person, ecumenical and opposed to the confessional state. -Democrat and, therefore, defender of democracy and freedom. Everything, personal, political, economic, social and cultural ”, said the candidate.
Instead, Marcelo rejected “illiberal democracy, which is not democratic”, as well as “freedom that is not fully democratic, because one lives in poverty, ignorance or dependency.”
At the end of his speech, Marcelo said that the choice was in the hands of the Portuguese. Renew the trust in those you meet week after week, for at least 20 years, and especially in these five years lived in common, made not only of words, but also of deeds, or choose someone different, with a different vision than yours. I proposed it and what I propose for Portugal ”, he explained.
I humbly await your verdict. I’m sure that whatever it is, it will be for the good of Portugal, that is, for the good of the Portuguese, of all of them. Because in these times of sacrifice, more than in other times of good times, every Portuguese counts, “he concluded.
What do you need to know about the elections?
Candidates must be formally submitted to the Constitutional Court no later than 30 days before the elections, on December 24, proposed by a minimum of 7,500 and a maximum of 15,000 voters, and the electoral campaign will run from January 10 to 22.
According to the law, if none of the candidates obtains more than half of the validly cast votes, excluding blank votes, a second vote will be held, 21 days after the first, between the two most voted candidates, in this case it will be the February 14th. .
The next President of the Republic will take office before the Assembly of the Republic on March 9, 2021, the last day of the current five-year term of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In the current situation of the covid-19 pandemic, the head of state decreed this Friday a new extension of the state of emergency in Portugal until December 23, already with the perspective that this legal framework will be in force until January 7.
Last week, on the sidelines of a commemorative ceremony on December 1, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told reporters that he has received “various pressures of various kinds, and in recent weeks even those who send signatures, collect signatures, send letters” , to reapply.
“But the decision is mine. The decision obeys one objective: it is to wait for a moment in which I must still intervene as President of the Republic within the framework of the state of emergency, only after that do I feel that I must make the decision and communicate it” . to the Portuguese, “he added.
On September 26 of this year, the PSD National Council approved a motion in support of the possible presidential reelection of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, proposed by the party leadership, with 87% of the votes in favor.
In turn, the PS decided that the orientation for the presidential elections will be the freedom to vote, without indication of the preferred candidate.
However, the motion approved on November 7 by the PS National Commission, the highest body among Congresses, refers to a “positive assessment” of the mandate of the current President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, although it also welcomes the candidacy of the socialist Ana Gomes.
