During a candidature presentation session held at a primary school in the parish of Algueirão-Mem Martins, former minister and Socialist mayor João Soares was announced as the candidate for the Sintra Municipal Assembly. The event was attended by the Secretary-General of the PS, José Luís Carneiro, and Rui Tavares, co-spokesperson of the Livre party.
In a municipality where Chega was the most voted party in the early legislative elections on May 18, and Deputy Rita Matias is a candidate for the Municipal Chamber, Ana Mendes Godinho declared that her candidacy opposes “the politics of fear, hatred, and division.”
“We know there are those who want to turn people’s frustration into rage and Sintra’s diversity into a threat, but we choose a different path. In Sintra, with us, with me, children’s names will never be read aloud to emphasize our differences,” continued the former Minister of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security.
Ana Mendes Godinho further stated that her candidacy “does not stand against anyone, it stands for everyone” and that “Sintra does not need returns or setbacks; Sintra needs only close responses, energy, work, courage to do differently.”
José Luís Carneiro, Secretary-General of the PS, echoed this sentiment, saying, “With the strength of democracy, we will defeat demagogy, populism, and all who aim to undermine our project’s health.”
Rui Tavares of Livre highlighted “freedom” as a value uniting the two parties in this municipal candidature: “It is in the name of freedom that we also present our candidature. The freedom of all Sintra residents.”
The current Mayor of Sintra, Basílio Horta, who cannot run again due to term limits, spoke last and was the only one to explicitly mention the Chega party, asserting that the PS will not “interrupt the cycle of victories” in Sintra but acknowledged “this time it is not easy.”
“We have a problem here: the rise of the far-right, and this is serious for us because one thing is to return to the past, and the PSD list clearly represents a return to the past, but the Chega list is to return to the past with serious issues regarding individual and collective freedom,” Basílio Horta stated.
The mayor suggested that this “should seriously mobilize” the PS and Livre joint candidacy, “beyond municipal issues,” because “there is an evident risk of the Tik Tok phenomenon mentioned by Ana Mendes Godinho appearing and people naively believing it.”
“I believe that anyone who values democracy and freedom cannot vote for Chega, cannot vote for Chega, and it is good to say this with total clarity because there are battles” that must be “fought in a timely manner, and this is the time to fight them,” Basílio Horta insisted.
Regarding the coalition with Livre, José Luís Carneiro stated that it represents the nature of the PS, “a project of openness, a project of dialogue.”
Rui Tavares of Livre remarked that at times “green and pink can be very well together” and asserted that it is not necessary to agree “100% on everything,” but rather “to agree on the essentials.”
“And I am sure that Sintra will be an excellent example of what we will do in various cities across the country, and several municipalities also in the Lisbon metropolitan area. So, a big hug, José Luís, we make this journey together,” he added.
Basílio Horta expressed “great respect” for Rui Tavares, telling him, “I only regret that you have not joined the PS.”
Candidacies have also been announced for the presidency of the Sintra Municipal Chamber, in the Lisbon district, by Marco Almeida, supported by PSD and IL, Maurício Rodrigues from CDS-PP, Rita Matias from Chega, and Pedro Ventura from CDU (PCP/PEV).
The PSD/CDS-PP government announced on Thursday that the municipal elections will be held on October 12.
