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Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced this Monday that he is running for the presidential elections of 2021 to “not go out in the middle of a difficult walk,” or “flee” in times of a pandemic.
The announcement of the January elections was made at the Versalles pastry shop in Belém, Lisbon, which hosted his candidacy five years ago, and the president explained that “there is a pandemic to face”, promising to change Portugal “for the better.” and be available for discussions with the other candidates.
“My first word is to tell you that I am a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic because we have a pandemic to face, an economic and social crisis to overcome and a unique opportunity to, in addition to overcoming the crisis, change for the better Portugal,” he declared. the ree-candidate for Belém, ensuring that every Portuguese counts.
“I will not go out in the middle of a demanding and painful walk. I will not escape my responsibilities,” the president also justified. And he added that he will not “exchange” the “adversities and unpopularities of tomorrow for the personal or family comfort of today.” This “because, like five years ago”, he says that he fulfills “a duty of conscience.”
Independent and frictionless
Marcelo, who arrived alone on foot, committed himself to “tacit”, “democratic pluralism” and “dialogue and convergence in essentials”, presenting himself as the “independent president” that the country needs. A head of state who is not “unstable, but stabilizes”, “who does not divide, rather unites the Portuguese”, and who “always pulls the best that exists”.
The re-elected president also explained that he wanted to “promulgate the new electoral rules before calling elections.”
“I wanted to call elections as president before advancing as a citizen. And, above all, because in the face of the worsening of the pandemic in autumn, I wanted to make fundamental decisions about the declaration of the second state of emergency, its renewals and its projection until January,” he added . your short statement.
It remains “exactly the same”
Then, he left a guarantee to the Portuguese: “You can be sure that I always tried to do the best I knew how and I could, through thick and thin, think about the public interest and not about the personal. The one who advances for this election is exactly even though I have advanced five years ago. I am exactly the same. “
By the way, Marcelo described himself as “proudly Portuguese and, therefore, universalist; convinced Catholic and, therefore, prioritizing the dignity of the person, ecumenical and contrary to a confessional state; admittedly republican and, therefore, reluctant to nepotism, patronage and corruption, decidedly social democrat and, therefore, defender of democracy and freedom ”.
At the Versalles pastry shop, very close to the Belém Palace, he also explained that he wants to “change Portugal for the better in the economy, but, above all, in our day-to-day life, strengthening our social and territorial cohesion, fighting against poverty and exclusion. , promoting employment, with investment, growth and better distribution of wealth ”.
Available for face-to-face discussions
In his statement, he left a word at the beginning to the other candidates for Belém, defending the debates. “I have long held that there should be face-to-face discussions with all the candidates. And I will,” Marcelo announced, wishing good luck and greeting everyone else. Already abroad, he said that it still has no formalization date.
About to turn 72 years old, on December 12, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was elected President of the Republic in the first round of the elections on January 24, 2016, with 52% of the votes cast.
Retired law professor, former president of the PSD and political commentator on television, he assumed the leadership of the State on March 9, 2016, keeping his candidacy open for a second five-year term.
Elections scheduled for January 24
On November 24, the President of the Republic scheduled the presidential elections for January 24, 2021.
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.
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