The launch of Aníbal Pinto’s candidacy for the Porto municipality on Saturday was notably marked by the release of an unspecified number of five-euro bills from a drone following his speech, during which he declared that “it would rain money.”
This event led to an anonymous complaint, as revealed today by the CNE spokesperson André Wemans. The commission reviewed this complaint today in a plenary session and concluded that, since the incident occurred outside of the electoral campaign period, with elections yet to be scheduled, it cannot adjudicate the matter.
As a result, the plenary determined that the appropriate body to assess the situation is the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to which the complaint has been sent today, he stated.
The complaint suggests that the act could be perceived as either corruption or voter bribery, according to the spokesperson.
Efforts to obtain a reaction from the party were met with a response stating that they would comment on the matter in due course.
When questioned on Saturday about the release of notes, Aníbal Pinto expressed that “the greatest happiness is contributing to people’s happiness” and explained that instead of announcing the candidacy at a hotel, his team decided “part of the campaign budget will always benefit supporters and the citizens of Porto.”
“We will always throw notes; we will always make it rain money. Many did not believe, but evidently, it happened, and they were real notes, as it should be,” promised the lawyer, who is running as an independent on the Nova Direita list, without disclosing the amount of money that fell on the approximately 50 supporters present, mentioning only that “it was enough to rent several rooms at a five-star hotel.”
Ossanda Líber, the president of Nova Direita, when asked if future campaign events would include this approach, denied it as a method of vote-buying.
“How is this buying votes? If I have a billboard on the street saying, ‘I will reduce VAT by 10%’, it’s still about money, isn’t it?” she argued.
To date, confirmed candidates for the Porto City Council include Manuel Pizarro from the PS, Pedro Duarte from the PSD, Diana Ferreira from the CDU, Nuno Cardoso from the Porto Primeiro movement, Vitorino Silva (known as Tino de Rans) from RIR, António Araújo from the Porto à Porto movement, Aníbal Pinto from Nova Direita, Sérgio Aires from the BE, and the current vice-president Filipe Araújo as an independent.
The current executive is composed of six members elected by Rui Moreira’s independent movement, three elected by the PS, two from the PSD, one from the CDU, and one from the BE.
The municipal elections are expected to take place between September 22 and October 14 of this year.
