Luís Montenegro arrived shortly before 8:00 PM at the PSD-Porto headquarters, where the party is following the municipal election night.
When asked whether the local elections also serve as an evaluation of the government, he responded, “Yes, I think that in some way the political party leading the government expects to establish a strong social and political contract through its connection with local communities.”
“I have never been afraid of elections; I have spent many years in opposition, I have many kilometers of political activity, and there’s one thing: I only want to hold political office based on the trust of the people, so I am never concerned about being judged,” he said.
Recalling a former Prime Minister, socialist António Guterres, who resigned due to a municipal defeat, Montenegro completely dismissed this scenario.
“I will not resign, you can dismiss that notion already, so you won’t have that news,” he assured, promising to make a political analysis of the election results “in two or three hours.”
In a visibly good mood, the social-democrat leader admitted expecting results “that will be balanced until the end,” not wanting to specify cases like Lisbon and Porto.
“We will look at all areas of our territory with the same interest, obviously not ignoring that some results are more symbolic, more capable of revealing a certain trend of thought,” he stated.
When asked if he feels between “a significant defeat and a possible significant victory,” given projections indicating technical ties in several relevant municipalities, the PSD leader said he feels “very calm.”
Montenegro stated he campaigned “as he could” while simultaneously holding the office of Prime Minister and PSD leader, but emphasized working on these local elections since 2022.
“I was elected at the end of the first half of 2022, and from September 2022, I traveled across the country, still in national opposition, visiting the 308 municipalities of the country (…) I did not only campaign in the last 15 days; this was a more visible expression,” he said.
On his appeal for candidates “more aligned” with governance to win, the Prime Minister said it is “easy to explain.”
“The government has a political philosophy, a political program, and works with all mayors, whether they are from any party or even independent movements. What I said during the campaign—and maintain—is that naturally, the greater the alignment, coordination, agreement, it is possible that this will also reflect in the work of the mayors,” he stated.
Asked if he expects to be the last to speak, Montenegro stressed that PSD starts “at a significant disadvantage” in these local elections (with 35 fewer councils than PS).
“I always said that in these elections I wanted to have more councils than any other party, I wanted to have more votes than we had four years ago, I wanted to have more mandates than we had four years ago,” he reiterated, saying he will combine “qualitative and quantitative aspects” in his final analysis of the night.
When asked if he spoke today with Pedro Duarte, candidate for Porto, or Carlos Moedas, for Lisbon, he replied that today “he didn’t speak with anyone at all.”
“Today was a day for me, to rest, to relax, to be absolutely calm, planning to call many candidates, congratulating them on victories and, possibly, also congratulating them on the work done even if they were not victorious,” he said.
Due to renovations at the national headquarters, the social-democrats gathered today to monitor the results at the party’s headquarters in Porto, where the secretary-general, Hugo Soares, the municipal coordinator, Pedro Alves, and several ministers and PSD leaders such as Joaquim Sarmento, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, and Carlos Abreu Amorim are present.
In the room reserved for media statements, only journalists and staff witnessed the projections, making it impossible to gauge the reaction of PSD figures who are following the night upstairs.
