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Marisa Matias considers it “regrettable” that, in a country with a majority of the center-left, “does not have representation” in the presidential elections and criticizes Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa for leaving “selectively closed” some windows in Belém “. A government supported by Chega” , he assured.
For the presidential candidates, the candidate supported by the Left Bloc set as a good goal “a better result” than that achieved in the last elections, in which she obtained third place and almost half a million votes, the best mark of one candidate. presidential campaign supported exclusively by the blocists. “If I run again, for me, a good result would be to have a better result than the one I had in the previous elections (…) and I think we also have to mobilize as politically active citizens and citizens. Give a lesson to the forces not democratic “, assumed the blocker, in an interview with the Lusa agency.
When he ran for the last presidential elections, then with Cavaco Silva as head of state, Marisa Matias argued that “in a Belém Palace that smells of breath” it would be “necessary to open the windows to let in fresh air.” “I do not believe that we can in any way compare the mandate of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with that of Cavaco Silva. Certainly there were windows that were opened. Now there were also some that were selectively closed,” he replied, when confronting the old statement.
Avoiding “great flourishes”, the BE MEP did not hide that she is going to the presidential elections with “a favorite for the election”, which is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, against whom she appears and insists on marking her differences, from the point of view of view on health, through labor issues and the financial system and even the position on euthanasia. “I think it is one of the issues that really needs to be discussed and, therefore, the fact that it is discussed a lot does not affect me, but I think there is a moment when we have to decide and that we should have already taken that step” ., he emphasizes, in the hope that the euthanasia law, if approved in parliament, will not be blocked “in any sphere of power.” With the pandemic crisis, from the perspective of Marisa Matias, one realizes “even more of the importance of public services, in particular the National Health Service”, considering that “A clear and unequivocal advocacy voice is missing for the NHS”.
However, in one thing Marcelo and Marisa are similar: in affection, in contact and in the proximity of people, gestures that in a campaign marked by a health crisis will have to be rethought. But, according to the candidate, with the seriousness that covid-19 requires, it is necessary to “assume the recommendations, be intransigent in complying with health regulations, which makes the campaign a completely different campaign from the previous ones.”
“The fact that there is physical distance is not and cannot be synonymous with social distance. From this point of view, this campaign, like all the others, has and should serve to listen to people, listen to their problems, exchange ideas, to travel the territory, obviously complying with all health standards ”, he anticipated.
PS “resigned” from the presidential fight
“It would be a shame if a country that still has a majority – and I hope it is even more – of the center left in the Assembly of the Republic, [esta] not being properly represented in the presidential elections, “said the candidate supported by BE for the January 24 elections in an interview with the Lusa news agency.” The Socialist Party has resigned from carrying out this fight from a formal point of view, “said the MEP, for whom, at the present time, there is no candidate in the field of the left” that is capable of gathering a consensus so broad that the absence of other candidates is justified “.
According to Marisa Matias, “these candidacies are important from the point of view of democracy” and “represent the space of the left, in its diversity.” The country is experiencing “a very difficult time”, warns the BE leader, so “This left-wing response to the crisis is needed, also in this space, which is the space of the Presidency of the Republic”.
Reiterating the importance of a candidacy with “a leftist program in defense of public services”, Marisa Matias said that this did not prevent her from “reflecting a lot on the [sua própria] candidacy ”, but without“ hesitation ”:“ The decision was very thoughtful, it is obvious that no one presents a candidacy of this nature without previously reflecting on it. But the decision was made, I didn’t think about going back. “
Asked about the points of contact with the other candidates on the left, the socialist Ana Gomes and the communist João Ferreira, the blocker says that they all have “interesting margins of convergence and divergence.” “We are not in a situation where it can be said that a single candidacy would be stronger than these candidacies (…) the sum of the parts reaches more people and is more representative than if it were only an electoral candidacy”, justifies. For Marisa Matias, the fact that there are several candidacies is even beneficial, because “it mobilizes more left-wing voters than a candidacy of someone” who is consensual, which “not even Ana Gomes” does not happen within the PS.
In relation to the socialist, the presidential candidate refers to friendship and joint work on many issues in the European Parliament, such as corruption, but also to differences with respect to the State Budget and also to Madeira offshore. As for João Ferreira, Marisa Matias highlights the difference in relation to the worldview, “that is, with respect to international politics.”
In this interview, the MEP reaffirms herself as a social democrat, who works “every day” and defends “the historic achievements of social democracy”, but admits to perceive some of the reasons why this statement can generate confusion. electorate. “We must not forget that we are in a country, which has this unique thing in the world, which is to have a right-wing party called Social Democrats,” he concludes.
In the event of being elected President of the Republic, Marisa Matías “would not take possession of a government supported by Chega,” she guaranteed, recalling the “sanitary cordon” carried out against the German extreme right. The candidate reiterated that his opponent is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, he assumed, even so, that, like any Democratic candidate, he cannot “give up fighting against the extreme right,” that is, André Ventura.
“He would not cede the position to a government supported by Chega,” he guaranteed, thus marking one more difference in relation to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who, in an interview with SIC on Friday, said that, in constitutional terms, it cannot be denied. parliamentary support of “a certain party” for a government solution, alluding to Ventura’s party.
Marisa Matias says that it is not up to a President of the Republic to define whether a party can be one or not -that is the task of the Constitutional Court-, but stresses that the head of state has the obligation “to defend and protect the Constitution and democracy , as well as the values that are represented there “. “I do not rule out that in the future there is a need to discuss whether there is Chega or not, but that is because André Ventura himself seems to have been asking for this for I don’t know how long,” he criticizes.
In the perspective of the leader of the blockade, the deputy and leader of Chega has “an absolutely racist, xenophobic speech” and proposes “unacceptable things” such as recovering life imprisonment in Portugal, which “was abolished in Portugal in the 19th century”. “He brings 19th century ideas to the 21st century and I think sometimes it’s really asking to make this fight, asking someone to call for the ban, asking someone to make him a victim.”, he says. Marisa Matias makes the difference between “the issue of illegalization” – a debate that she does not leave aside, but that “would not ask for or take initiative” – and the possibility of “taking over a government”, which “is a completely different “.
As for the possibility that candidate André Ventura will be ahead of him in the January 24 elections, the BE leader is perpetual: “I think it is a defeat, it is a defeat for democracy, it is not just for me.”
There is no severance of relations with PS
Asked about the vote against BE in the State Budgets for 2021 (OE2021) and the effects it anticipates on its electoral results, at a time when the polls indicate a fall in the party, Marisa Matias, leader of the Bloc and supporter of this decision in the party organs, said that the Government’s proposal was “far below” the needs. It is clearly “a downtime budget” that has not been made “for times of pandemic because it does not provide the necessary protection” and is insufficient in this response.
“I think we did it – and I say we did it because I was part of it – what had to be done in the sense that, at a time when the responses to the crisis are not up to par, we must fight and demand answers that are up to par ”, he assumes. However, for the MEP, “this does not mean that there is a break in relations” with the socialists, much less determines that “BE stops talking or negotiating with the Socialist Party.” “That means that the deadlines are defined, the cards are on the table and unfortunately I believe that reality will give us the reason faster than we would like,” he anticipates.
With the guarantee that BE will continue speaking and negotiating, Marisa Matias throws the ball alongside the Socialists: “There is also a will on the part of the Socialist Party to be able to accept some of these proposals.” “As for the rest, I think people understand it perfectly, I sincerely believe that they do,” he responds in relation to the Portuguese understanding of this vote against.
The presidential candidate recalls that BE was “the party that immediately after the legislative elections was available to continue to have a written agreement and for the device to have continuity”, which at the time was rejected by the PS. “It was not the Left Bloc who rejected the existence of the device, it was the Socialist Party,” he clarifies.
BE, recalls Marisa Matias, “did not stop taking responsibility for approving the Supplementary Budget that was needed this year” due to the pandemic, criticizing that the OE2021 approved does not reflect the necessary investment in the National Health Service or in labor protection.
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