Presidential candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo has criticised Prime Minister Luís Montenegro for seeking to influence voters’ choices, arguing that the future head of state must remain independent.
Speaking on Monday, the former Chief of Staff of the Navy accused the prime minister of attempting to condition the electorate ahead of the presidential election. He stressed that the next President of the Republic must be neither a “puppet” of the government nor its opponent.
Gouveia e Melo was speaking after a visit to the Delta coffee factory in Campo Maior, in the district of Portalegre, where he was asked about comments made by Montenegro, leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and prime minister, who had described the admiral as a populist candidate in the forthcoming presidential race.
The former navy chief said that, if elected, he would maintain a “constructive and institutional relationship” with the government, but added that he had heard the prime minister’s remarks “with displeasure”.
“I think the prime minister acted badly, because he cannot forget that, even as leader of the PSD, he remains the prime minister. He cannot dissociate the two roles. And he will have to coexist with the future President of the Republic, whoever that may be,” he warned.
Gouveia e Melo added that Montenegro “cannot condition the Portuguese people into choosing the President of the Republic that he finds most convenient”.
Rejecting the populist label, the candidate said he positioned himself at the political centre and defended a social-market economy. He also took indirect swipes at rivals Marques Mendes and António José Seguro, without naming them.
“Portugal needs a President who acts as a referee of the system, who is balanced. Being a government puppet is not good for the system, particularly when the government does not have an absolute majority. But choosing someone to oppose the government from the presidency is also not a good solution,” he argued.
According to the admiral, the race for Belém includes “two system candidates: one who wants to become President to help the government, and another who wants to go there in order, in some way, to oppose it”.
Meanwhile, Liberal Initiative (IL) hopeful João Cotrim de Figueiredo said that Luís Montenegro’s appeal for votes in favour of Marques Mendes reveals “concern and weakness” within the PSD ahead of the 18 January presidential election.
“This now seems to be worrying the PSD so much that the party leader himself feels the need to appeal for votes for his candidate. That would not be necessary if the candidate were able to win over and mobilise the entire electorate of the Democratic Alliance (AD),” he said.
Cotrim de Figueiredo argued that Montenegro has realised that Marques Mendes is “a candidate who cannot even mobilise the PSD’s own electorate or that of the AD”.
“Perhaps he regrets the choice of candidate, but that is not my concern,” he added, referring to the appeal for tactical voting made on Sunday, 4 January, the day the official presidential campaign began.
In his view, the appeal for votes in favour of Marques Mendes is also a sign of “weakness”.
“I note the concern of Marques Mendes’s campaign with my campaign, and above all I note that people with democratic responsibilities are making very early appeals for voters to back a second or third choice,” he said.
There are 11 candidates contesting the presidential election, a record number. If none secures more than half of the valid votes, a run-off will be held on 8 February between the two leading candidates.
Source: LUSA
