The social democrat stepped in for party leader Luís Montenegro on Thursday in the municipal campaign in Covilhã and Belmonte, in the Castelo Branco district, as well as in Fornos de Algodres, in the Guarda district, three municipalities that the PSD lost to the PS.
In comments, Sebastião Bugalho stated that his message to local candidates was that the PSD “does not own the Municipal Chambers, nor does it want to, but it aims to do the best for its communities.”
“We are the first Government in Southern Europe and the first non-socialist Government to have a European Investment Bank [EIB] financing line exceeding one billion euros to build housing, and we know that competent mayors will be needed to implement this investment.”
He emphasized that the party relies “on the best” to be “a differentiating factor to enhance a better future, to be able to attract more European funds for the specific projects needed in these councils.”
“In this regard, when we rely on the best, we expect to achieve the best results in Fornos de Algodres, Belmonte, and Covilhã,” he stated.
Sebastião Bugalho also remarked that the Portuguese political system is “undergoing a metamorphosis,” citing the recent legislative elections as an example, where the PS came, “for the first time, in third place since the times of the PRD, led by General Ramalho Eanes.”
“As a founding party of democracy, we must focus on serving our communities, our democracy, but also acknowledge the fact that things are changing,” he advised.
Bugalho noted that people are “increasingly demanding and less tolerant of things remaining the same.”
“Nobody wants everything to remain the same in Portugal, and in these municipal elections, the candidates who best represent this positive and constructive change, in my view, will achieve the best results,” he predicted.
He therefore advised candidates not to allow things to remain unchanged by the end of their term as they were at the beginning.
“No Government, Municipal Chamber, or MEP will have a future if they do not produce results for those they aim to serve,” he assured.
The PSD is fielding the independent civil engineer Jorge Simões for the Covilhã Chamber, while António Cardoso Marques, a university professor, is heading the PSD/CDS-PP coalition list in Belmonte.
In Fornos de Algodres, the social-democrat list is led by banker Rui Furtado.
In these three municipalities, the current PS mayors cannot run again as they have reached the term limit.
