José Pedro Aguiar-Branco expressed his views in an interview with Antena 1, led by journalist Natália Carvalho.
When asked about the possibility of running for parliament again in the upcoming early elections on May 18, Aguiar-Branco, who was the front-runner for the AD list in the Viana do Castelo constituency during the 2024 legislative elections, responded with “we’ll see.”
He noted that the National Council of the PSD would convene in Lisbon today to select the lists of candidates for parliament, emphasizing his reluctance to presume the outcomes of this meeting. He did, however, mention that there is “a greater demand for civic engagement” today compared to the past.
“I am willing to always consider how I can contribute. I don’t believe I am a savior of anything, but I think at this moment, each of us is required to make a stronger effort for involvement. If people want me to be engaged, I’ll be engaged,” he stated.
When questioned about the controversy surrounding Spinumviva, a family business of Luís Montenegro at the heart of the current political crisis, the President of the Assembly of the Republic expressed his distaste for when “the dimension of political scrutiny, which should happen, turns into popular judgment through debate.”
“What I want to say is that, in theory, and not just in this situation, we frequently witness the use of mechanisms designed primarily for political scrutiny being employed to evaluate the legality or illegality of matters outside the proper jurisdiction, which is the space of the courts,” he advocated.
Regarding his recent controversial remark that PS Secretary-General Pedro Nuno Santos did more harm to democracy in six days than Chega leader André Ventura in six years, Aguiar-Branco clarified that it was “a political analysis concerning a particular situation” confined within the PSD National Council.
“I did not insult anyone or make accusations,” he defended.
“My thoughts were never expressed in my role as President of the Assembly of the Republic. In the case of the PS leader, I praised his statesmanship when he demonstrated it on issues as significant for the country as the State Budget for 2025,” he noted.
However, from his perspective, “the responsibility associated with PS is a greater responsibility.”
“And that is the context of the concern I wanted to express in my speech, regarding PS being a party that we hold to a higher standard of responsibility for everything that happens in our democracy and our political actions. That is the clarity I aimed to convey,” he justified.
Regarding the 2026 presidential elections, Aguiar-Branco maintained that he was right when, in December, he stated that it was not yet the time to discuss them.
“Outside of our political bubble, when you walk the streets, no one is concerned with the presidential elections. Reality proves me right. I did not want to contribute to that debate and I still do not want to contribute to the presidential debate because I don’t think it’s the primary focus of the Portuguese,” he argued.
Faced with the fact that Admiral Gouveia e Melo, considered a frontrunner in polls for winning the presidency, signals a preference for candidacy without party support, the parliament president countered, “In a liberal democracy, parties are absolutely essential structures and institutions.”
Aguiar-Branco even warned that, “on the day when political structures with credibility that deserve public trust no longer exist, we will surely be heading towards less democratic regimes.”
“We will be heading towards populisms and caudillismos that are risky for our freedom and democracy,” he added.
