Hugo Soares spoke at the presentation of the PSD/CDS-PP candidate for the Lamego City Hall, current mayor Francisco Lopes, as part of the party’s national local election tour, which did not feature the presence of the social-democratic leader and prime minister, Luís Montenegro.
The secretary-general and parliamentary leader described the government’s recent housing measures as “a kind of fiscal bazooka” and emphasized that the tax reductions for construction apply to rents up to 2,300 euros, repeatedly stressing the word “up to.”
“There are people who still don’t understand the A, the T, and the E, up to 2,300 euros in rent. What does this mean? It means that from 400 euros to 2,300 euros, everyone who has and puts houses on the market with these values will have that tax benefit,” he said.
Hugo Soares accused “the political country” and particularly the PS leader, José Luís Carneiro, of deliberately trying to confuse people.
“I believe that the PS really wanted to sow confusion, saying that the Government thought rents should be capped at 2,300 euros and that we believed 2300 euros was a moderate rent,” he said, responding to Carneiro by stating, “an affront is not understanding that the middle class needs help.”
For Hugo Soares, “an affront is not knowing that the Portuguese, doctors, senior technicians, and teachers need a house to live in, as do the people of Baião, Lamego do Porto, Amadora, Lisbon, and Sintra.”
Hugo Soares also directed strong criticism at Chega, accusing its leader, André Ventura, of lying by claiming he has candidates in all 308 municipalities in the country.
“It is a lie that Chega has candidates in the 308 municipalities of the country. And it is true that a large part of Chega’s municipal candidates are ‘fake’ candidates,” he said.
The PSD secretary-general explained this accusation of falsehood directed at Chega’s candidates.
“They are candidates who are 300 km, 200 km away from the municipality they are running for, whom they have never visited, and do not know the problems of the municipalities where they are candidates,” he stated.
He specifically pointed to the case of Viseu, where “very few of Chega’s candidates” are from that municipality.
“There are, for example, candidacies in Boticas that come from Salvaterra de Magos and do not even know whether Boticas is in Trás-os-Montes, Madeira, or the Azores. They are ‘fake’ candidates, and the Portuguese people need to know this,” he accused.
Earlier, deputy João Almeida, speaking on behalf of the CDS-PP in the coalition in Lamego (but not in the district capital, Viseu), praised the role of the parish council presidents.
“There is nothing more difficult in democracy than being president of the parish council: it is not being president of the European Council, secretary-general of the United Nations, or President of the Republic. None of these have people knocking on their door at any hour to solve problems,” he emphasized.
Earlier, the candidate for the fifth time for the presidency of Lamego City Hall, Francisco Lopes (who served three terms between 2005 and 2017, and again since 2021), took the opportunity of the presence of national figures to ask the Government to fulfill the resolution of the Council of Ministers that determines the construction of a bypass directly connecting the municipality to the A24.
Hugo Soares assured that the resolution would be fulfilled, guaranteeing the Lamego residents that Francisco Lopes “is someone whom when he speaks, the Government of Portugal listens.”
For the October 12 elections for the Lamego City Hall, in the northern district of Viseu, besides the current president, Francisco Lopes (PSD/CDS-PP), candidates include José António Santos (PS), Clemente Alves (CDU), and Maria Vale (Chega).
