“There is only one serious and credible alternative candidacy, and those who are not present chose not to be,” stated José Luís Carneiro during the campaign dinner for the municipal elections of the Viver Lisboa coalition (PS/Livre/BE/PAN), which gathered over a thousand people, including many socialist figures, in Lisbon.
Without naming the PCP, which opted not to join the coalition, the Secretary-General of the PS delivered a warning: “Votes cannot be wasted.”
“The consequential vote is for the Socialist Party and the Viver Lisboa coalition; it is a vote for Alexandra Leitão,” he appealed, urging for “strength and energy” in mobilization until Sunday.
According to José Luís Carneiro, “winning Lisbon is winning the country.”
In part of his speech, the PS leader addressed Alexandra Leitão directly, praising her “sensitivity, strength, and capacity to be uncompromising when necessary on fundamental issues.”
“As you have rightly said, this means being radical in values and principles. I am also radical in values and principles, and it is not necessary to assert this as a storm. No. It is necessary to pursue a path,” he emphasized.
Carneiro lamented that political life in Portugal today is “marked by indifference and insensitivity,” recalling that in parliament, he questioned the Prime Minister about cancer surgery waiting lists, moderate rents, or the lack of nursery and kindergarten places.
“The Prime Minister did not respond to me. He turned to side issues, which is what they know how to do—distracting attention and placing in the media agenda themes that do not concern people,” he accused.
According to the PS leader, Alexandra Leitão’s candidacy “is a great responsibility because Europe looks up to and draws inspiration from Lisbon.”
At this point, Carneiro recalled the legacy of former socialist mayors of the capital, starting with Jorge Sampaio, “a source of transformation,” already mentioned in Marisa Matias’s speech.
“João Soares eradicated shanty towns and ended Casal Ventoso, humanist landmarks in this city. António Costa reconnected the city with the river. […] And we had Fernando Medina, who ensured that Lisbon became a European green capital,” he praised.
According to the PS leader, these are “marks” of which socialists are proud, arguing that Alexandra Leitão’s candidacy “is already a way of seeing and understanding the world,” which he identified as “a common home where all are welcome once invited.”
“I want to welcome this great movement and say it is an honor to join you here today with Rui Tavares, Marisa Matias, Inês Sousa Real, in what is already the PS’s way of seeing the world,” he praised.
The ambition the coalition has for Lisbon was not overlooked.
“That it be a light, a transformative force of life in society, and a way of understanding the world, which is our humanistic vision of life, societies, and the world,” he asserted.
The dinner was attended by leaders of the political forces within the coalition led by Alexandra Leitão, except for the BE, represented by leader Marisa Matias, in place of Mariana Mortágua, who returned from Israel on Sunday after being detained while participating in the humanitarian flotilla for Gaza.
Among the many socialist faces were former government officials José António Vieira da Silva, Siza Vieira, Eduardo Cabrita, Matos Fernandes, João Tiago Silveira, and Graça Fonseca.
Parliamentary leader Eurico Brilhante Dias, deputies Mariana Vieira da Silva, António Mendonça Mendes, Miguel Cabrita, Marcos Perestrello, and Edite Estrela were also present, along with Isabel Soares and MEPs Ana Catarina Mendes and Bruno Gonçalves.
In Sunday’s municipal elections, candidates for the presidency of Lisbon City Council include Alexandra Leitão, Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), João Ferreira (CDU – PCP/PEV), Bruno Mascarenhas (Chega), Ossanda Líber (Nova Direita), José Almeida (Volt), Adelaide Ferreira (ADN), Tomaz Ponce Dentinho (PPM/PTP), and Luís Mendes (RIR).
[News updated at 00h20]
