During a televised debate broadcast by SIC, the candidate supported by the Left Bloc, Catarina Martins, recalled the ‘troika’ period to accuse António José Seguro, the candidate backed by the Socialist Party, of having agreed on state budgets and labor laws with the PSD and CDS-PP.
Martins argued that Seguro chose to “ally himself with the Right against those who worked and against the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic,” questioning “what he would do now” if elected President of the Republic.
The Left Bloc candidate sought to distance herself from her opponent, noting that at that time, she was “with Mário Soares, fighting for a European policy against austerity, with PS deputies like Isabel Moreira, to the Constitutional Court to restore holiday and Christmas allowances” and later, during the ‘geringonça’ period, made left-wing agreements to “undo the cuts” from the Passos Coelho government.
“I never allied with the Right,” António José Seguro replied, explaining that the PS abstained in the 2012 State Budget vote in the name of “national interest” because the country was going through “a difficult situation” and “needed to signal political cohesion with the objective of making the adjustment.”
The PS-backed candidate stated that “in difficult moments, in times of great suffering, in moments of great difficulties, when the country was under financial assistance, what is demanded of a political leader is to side with responsibility,” indicating that this is what he would do in Belém.
Seguro also claimed he opposed “austerity,” advocating for “an alternative path” based on “growth, not just cuts,” and considered it unfair for his opponent to try to “link him to that PSD/CDS-PP government.”
He accused the Left Bloc of advocating in Portugal for an economic model “similar to what Syriza applied in Greece,” resulting in “more suffering, fewer pensions, lower salaries,” and seeking to “suspend commitments with creditors.”
The former socialist leader also warned his opponent that “clinging to Mário Soares’ legacy is not becoming of you.”
Nearing the end of the debate, Catarina Martins argued that “the Left needs much more clarity and fewer games, much more hope and less calculation,” while António José Seguro called for “a convergence of votes” for his candidacy to allow him to advance to a potential second round and prevent it from being contested between “two right-wing candidates.”
Seguro also asserted that Portugal “needs political balance” in the face of a “right-wing hegemony” and said that “a moderate person” who “comes from the Left but is capable of dialoguing with all sectors of society” is necessary.
At the start of the debate, both candidates for Belém agreed that the Public Prosecutor’s Office should give more explanations about the progression of the Influencer operation, calling for swiftness, and criticized the eavesdropping recently made public by the media.
While Catarina Martins felt that the Attorney General “is weakened,” António José Seguro declined to focus on Amadeu Guerra and stated that “Justice is weakened.”
On a potential reappointment of the Attorney General, Seguro indicated that one of the first initiatives would be to call him to Belém for “a working meeting,” refusing to make “assessments without hearing people.”
In terms of international relations, the two opponents also differed regarding NATO, with Catarina Martins advocating for the organization’s dissolution and Seguro supporting Portugal’s continued membership.
