“I did not present my availability. I have always been accustomed to being sought after. The party, I have that luck, has always considered me a mayor, and therefore, always invited me. And now, I have replied that I accept,” stated Fernando Ruas.
The president of the Viseu City Council indicated in November 2024 that he would only run for a second term if the Government fulfilled its promise to upgrade the Main Route 3 (IP3) to a highway profile and built a new dam in Fagilde.
“And now the Minister [of Environment] and the Minister of Finance will come to Viseu for the dam, and the Minister of Infrastructure will come to announce the railway connection of Viseu to the Beira Alta line and the connection of the Lordosa business zone to the A24. And the IP3 works are progressing well,” he added.
Fernando Ruas mentioned that if his party “had not won the elections, he would not be a candidate,” as the commitments made “are with people” and “also, he would have doubts if the core group” with whom he negotiated the projects had not been reconfirmed in the Government.
Another condition now imposed, Fernando Ruas added, “is that this will be the second and last term, although the legislation allows a third, but this will be the last,” winning.
“Because I want to close a cycle of investments that I proposed to lead, which the City Council will lead, and which is by far the largest investment Viseu has ever made,” he highlighted.
“Anyone who knows Viseu for several years is well aware of the evolution the city has undergone. Those arriving now may not notice, but those who knew it before I first arrived can clearly see the difference in the city’s evolution. And now anyone arriving will see the difference in the northern entrance,” he stated.
Fernando Ruas, aged 76, returned to the presidency of the Viseu City Council in 2021, after leading it from 1989 to 2013, a year he was forced to leave due to the term limitation law.
The socialist candidate João Azevedo said in 2021, when the PS achieved its best-ever result, that he would run again in 2025 and has already confirmed his candidacy. Also in the race are Bernardo Pessanha for Chega and Leonel Ferreira for CDU.
In 2021, the PSD garnered 24,363 votes (46.68%) and five seats, while the PS received 19,968 votes (38.26%) and four seats.
Chega was the third most voted party in the Viseu municipality in the 2021 local elections, obtaining 1,542 votes (2.95%).
