“Lisbon does not need a president who uses the city for vanity, for TikTok, and their political career while neglecting daily essentials,” declared Rui Tavares during the presentation of the municipal coalition “Viver Lisboa” (PS/Livre/BE/PAN) candidate for the Areeiro parish council, Joana Alves Pereira.
In a public garden near Avenida de Roma, Rui Tavares urged Lisbon residents to answer “a very simple question” in the municipal elections on October 12: “Who will work more for Lisbon, Carlos Moedas or Alexandra Leitão?”
“Who will pay more attention to details? Who will study more? Who will ensure that things run smoothly? Carlos Moedas or Alexandra Leitão?” he questioned, asserting that “nobody has the slightest doubt” that it will be Alexandra Leitão.
“Obviously, the one who will govern this city better, who will know how to love this city without using it for self-importance, will be Alexandra Leitão,” stated Rui Tavares.
Alexandra Leitão also spoke during the candidacy presentation, emphasizing that her goal is “to care for Lisbon,” which has been “so neglected, so degraded, so careless.”
“This coalition ‘Viver Lisboa’ is a movement for the city, and that’s why we truly need to win the elections, not for positions, but to prevent Lisbon from continuing in its current state,” she declared, highlighting that the four parties in the coalition joined forces not “against anyone, but for the city.”
The candidate, former minister and PS parliamentary leader, aims for a “more cared for” and “less unequal” Lisbon, noting that the capital has become “very unequal” in the last four years.
“A city where some have and others do not, where some have better public services or do not even need them, where some have decent housing and others do not, where some have the right to live in certain places and others elsewhere. We do not accept inequality,” she declared, listing housing, mobility, urban hygiene, culture, and science as priorities for her term.
At the event, architect Helena Roseta, a former constituent deputy, declared her support for Alexandra Leitão, stating that “it’s time, 50 years after April 25, to put a woman in charge” of the capital.
Helena Roseta argued for making “politics with joy,” considering that “politics cannot be dull,” nor “just about speaking ill of one another.”
“Natália Correia said ‘people distance themselves from politics because it is dull.’ Now it’s worse than dull, it’s violent, it’s harsh. We have to turn politics into something good, something for citizens, something everyone wants to engage in,” she defended.
Helena Roseta urged the coalition to transform its candidacy into a “movement of the city’s citizens, those who wish to do something for the city but cannot, those who are forgotten.”
“You have the capability for this. Let’s get to it, make a candidacy, conduct a campaign, win the elections, and exercise your role differently,” she affirmed.
