Em statements in Lisbon at the PS headquarters, the leader of the Socialist Party acknowledged the loss of leadership in the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP), holding 130 municipalities to AD’s 134.
“We did not achieve some goals we set for ourselves, but as I said, we were far from imagining that we would be competing until the last moment to overcome several district capitals, managing to win five district capitals,” he emphasized.
When asked about accountability for these results, Carneiro expressed feeling “frankly good for being co-responsible” for establishing the Socialist Party as the main alternative in constructing a national political solution.
“I feel reinforced confidence from the people in the leadership of the Socialist Party,” he responded when queried if not maintaining ANMP and not winning Porto and Lisbon weakened his role as secretary-general of the PS in his debut elections leading the party.
The PS leader also highlighted the capture of five district capitals previously outside PS control: Évora, Faro, Coimbra, Bragança, and Viseu.
Before these elections, the PS led five district capitals and retained Castelo Branco, Leiria, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real but lost Beja, thereby nearly doubling its number of district capitals.
“We achieved several goals that I would like to highlight. The first objective, winning the City of Évora. Second, winning the City of Faro. Third, winning the City of Viseu. Fourth, winning the City of Bragança. Another essential goal achieved was winning the symbolic and important City of Coimbra and contending, naturally, as we would prefer to win, but contesting the Cities of Porto, Braga, and also Lisbon,” he stated.
Carneiro explained that the PS faced the challenge of having approximately 50 outgoing mayors and, with results pending finalization, the PS likely lost 19 municipalities.
“This means we managed to secure well over half of the mayoral positions in areas where there was a transition, which is always challenging,” he emphasized.
For the PS leader, “responsibility is naturally collective.”
“What I mentioned several times was drawing attention to a study by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, which states that, according to citizens, the most valued aspect is the candidate’s profile. The second most valued aspect is the programmatic dimension and ethical sense. The third is the party. Hence, I said this does not mean we all are not responsible,” he added.
