Upon arriving at a campaign event in Macedo de Cavaleiros, in the district of Bragança, José Luís Carneiro was questioned about the criticism made today by PSD MEP Sebastião Bugalho, who provided a “not necessarily happy” assessment of the first three months of his leadership of the PS.
“Sebastião Bugalho still has much to learn and will have time to do so. I hope he takes advantage of his time in the European Parliament to gain political experience, so he can later address issues in the appropriate context. I have immense personal respect for him, and even a friendship, but he still has much to learn politically,” he began to respond.
Despite journalists’ persistence, the PS leader cited the hundreds of people in Macedo de Cavaleiros who “do not care at all about these skirmishes that mean nothing to them.”
“What they want to know is whether the state is committed to a genuine investment policy in the interior, creating living conditions so that young people can settle here, to create a new economy and address their issues. It is the lack of response to these problems that causes many to view democracy with some disenchantment,” he argued.
For Carneiro, “one thing is small skirmishes intended to create campaign excitement,” which are part of these electoral periods, “another is structural issues that concern people’s lives.”
“By the way, I believe the European deputy’s salary might meet the requirements for government-assisted rents, meaning it would be above 2,300 euros,” he remarked.
Asked if he fears the erosion of the legislative electorate might also occur in the local elections, the PS leader replied: “Let us wait for the night of the 12th, and perhaps we will have good surprises.”
“The Socialist Party is the largest party in local democratic power. We do not seek power for power’s sake, we want power to transform the living conditions of our populations, of the people,” he said.
Carneiro argued that the PS “is the great common house of democracy, where all democrats reunite in local power to make the Socialist Party the great party of Portuguese democracy once again.”
Marking 100 days as Secretary-General of the PS, Carneiro’s account is that he has traveled “more than 25,000 kilometers across the country, visiting over 120 municipalities.”
“And I must tell you that I was in Valpaços recently, for instance, where no Secretary-General had ever been. This means something to the populations, and I will endeavor to do this today as Secretary-General of the PS and I will certainly do so when I become Prime Minister of our country,” he committed.
