Sebastião Bugalho, the head candidate for AD in the recent European elections, spoke to the media on behalf of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition ahead of a rally in Caldas da Rainha, Leiria.
The MEP disclosed that “AD became aware” of an incident involving a young man who verbally confronted the Prime Minister at Espinho’s fair on Monday and “subsequently boarded the Socialist Party’s campaign van.”
Bugalho accused the PS of using “falsehoods in the campaign as a political weapon” and “anonymous social media accounts.” He suggested that this incident demonstrates the PS’s willingness to “stage a facade, a manipulative moment to interfere in the electoral campaign.”
“This is someone who confronts the Prime Minister, masquerading as an anonymous citizen, only to enter a party’s campaign van moments later,” he criticized.
The PSD MEP accused the PS of “disrespecting democracy by not respecting the electoral campaign” and resorting to “undignified maneuvers in democracy” due to a “lack of ideas.”
“We pose three questions to Pedro Nuno Santos: does he condemn this behavior of his electoral campaign, does he apologize for it, and can he assure that it has not occurred in the past and will not occur until election day, May 18?” he stated.
When questioned if AD is aware of whether this involves a member of the PS’s national or local campaign, Sebastião Bugalho indicated that the coalition would release video footage, which was later shared in the WhatsApp group with journalists following the national tour.
Media outlets also questioned why Sebastião Bugalho, rather than the coalition leader Luís Montenegro, was addressing this issue.
“Because I felt deeply outraged from a democratic standpoint by the PS’s attitude, which does not respect the electoral campaign or the voters, otherwise they would not feel the need to deploy a party affiliate from their campaign van to verbally assault the Prime Minister with personal attacks, evidently manipulating those watching on television,” he said.
The video shows a young man approaching the Prime Minister, whispering in his ear, and subsequently stating his hope that the Prime Minister loses the election and blaming Luís Montenegro for the political crisis. The footage then shows the young man entering a van bearing the PS logo.
