The President of the Republic dismissed the idea that the Spinumviva case, involving the Prime Minister, will influence the upcoming local elections, which are set to take place in just over two weeks.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday at the Book Fair in Palácio de Belém, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed confidence that the local elections would remain unaffected by the current political issues, indicating that new developments in the Spinumviva case would not impact the voting process.
“Each case is different, and the candidates’ personalities matter greatly in local elections,” the President explained, emphasizing that local elections focus on municipality-specific issues affecting those communities.
“These local issues might be common: housing, mobility problems, transportation, very specific educational issues, but they are always local topics,” he noted.
“Even in large municipalities like the Lisbon or Porto Metropolitan Areas, I believe the elections will focus more on the candidates’ profiles, their past achievements, and their future plans for the municipalities, rather than national issues. That’s how it seems to me,” the head of state asserted.
He also stated that the outcomes themselves “will be very local.”
The President argued that this “is one of the campaigns with the least presence of national leaders,” attributing it to the legislative elections in May and the presidential elections in January.
“A distinctive feature this year is that either leaders do not participate at all or engage far less intensively than in the past,” he observed.
Recalling his experience in the 1997 local campaign as PSD president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa noted how rare it is nowadays for party leaders to visit the majority of municipalities. “Today, this is very rare. Even the leaders of the major parties attend former district capitals and perhaps a dozen, two dozen, or three dozen more municipalities,” he remarked.
Marcelo attributed the sparse participation of leaders in local campaigns to “a simple reason.” “There were legislative elections, followed by summer vacations, and the local pre-campaign. I would say that a characteristic this year is that either leaders do not participate or participate much less intensively than before,” he advocated.
The President of the Republic was also questioned about his meeting with the Health Minister on Friday, September 26, when they both attended a concert at the Book Fair in Belém. However, he refrained from commenting, stating simply, “I did not have any conversation with anyone.”
The head of state revealed that “within a week or two or immediately following the local elections” he would provide his assessment of the national health situation.
