Manuel Alegre addressed journalists as he arrived for a parliamentary lunch organized by the PS leadership candidate José Luís Carneiro, attended by the PS founders Alberto Arons de Carvalho, José Leitão, José Neves, Nuno Godinho de Matos, and Rodolfo Crespo.
“I am not a psychic. I myself find it difficult to understand, but I think this phenomenon is not isolated; it is a phenomenon happening in Europe,” he responded when asked if he had identified the reason for PS’s poor performance in Sunday’s legislative elections.
For the PS honorary president, “it’s a serious situation” and there is a need “to think about reforming the party.”
“To end our isolation from certain social sectors of the population, to reconnect with the more dynamic sectors of the population, to end the isolation from youth, and to once again be the party of the poor and the underprivileged,” he advocated.
According to the veteran socialist, “this is a significant task” that lies ahead for José Luís Carneiro, currently the sole candidate to succeed Pedro Nuno Santos, who resigned following the electoral setback.
When asked whether José Luís Carneiro is the right person to lead PS now, Alegre replied: “he is the man currently in the position to be elected the PS secretary-general. Therefore, he is the one we must rely on.”
There cannot be a constitutional revision that excludes the PS.
Concerning the PS’s stance regarding the AD Government, the honorary socialist president expressed agreement that it is necessary to “do what is necessary for the country’s stability.”
“We cannot spend our lives in elections. The PS is a party of great responsibility; it can be as important in opposition as in power, and at present, much of the stability involves PS, not only in that regard but also concerning defending the Constitution,” he pointed out.
For Manuel Alegre, “there cannot be a constitutional revision that leaves out the PS.”
“Nor can there be a constitutional revision that subverts the regime. This is a significant issue to also discuss with the PSD,” he argued.
Alberto Arons de Carvalho also spoke to journalists and, when asked about what led to the PS’s result, admitted that “it is not easy to draw that conclusion.”
“I think today we might conclude that it was a mistake to prevent the government from continuing and to bring down the government with the motion of confidence, but it is easy to make predictions after the game is over, and therefore, I believe the best thing is to think about the future,” he responded.
For PS co-founder José Luís Carneiro, “at this moment, he is a good alternative for PS to recover its status as a party with government aspirations, with an electoral capacity it once had.”
“PS should understand the electoral results, reflect on them, and accept that there are currently conditions for political stability and for this Government to remain,” he responded.
In Arons de Carvalho’s opinion, these electoral results “were a lesson for the country” and for PS.
“But I believe that at this moment, the overwhelming majority of Portuguese people desire a stable government with some longevity. Whether PSD will be an alternative remains to be seen. I believe it will not be a good alternative, but the Portuguese will decide,” he said.
As he entered the lunch, José Luís Carneiro praised the PS founders.
“Those who gave their lives so that we could live in freedom. They fought against a dictatorship; many had to leave the country, risking their lives, founding the Socialist Party in Germany, and it was the Socialist Party that brought us to freedoms, rights, and fundamental citizen guarantees,” he described.
