“I do not commit any significant breach of confidence by telling you that I have already received, from three specific campaigns, messages and direct contacts expressing concern and asking if any sort of understanding would be possible, and the answer is no,” Cotrim de Figueiredo stated at the 3rd Liberal Professional Forum in Porto.
Emphasizing that there is no possibility of any understanding with any candidacy, the liberal assured that his candidacy is to go all the way to the end.
When asked by journalists which candidacies sent him “messages,” the candidate insisted that he would not name them but noted that those most concerned are from the non-socialist area of the political spectrum, as well as Antonio José Seguro’s candidacy.
“Antonio José Seguro is concerned about the young vote he could capture, which he can no longer capture at this point,” he pointed out.
According to Cotrim, the candidacies in question feel threatened because his candidacy moves “exactly into a field where they have no great ease of entering and where, until now, people would consider voting due to lack of an alternative.”
With this candidacy, people now have an alternative, he stressed.
“I knew that my candidacy’s entry would harm some of the existing ones and would provoke this type of reaction, and I knew it was inevitable,” he emphasized.
Cotrim de Figueiredo reinforced that when he makes a decision, he deeply reflects on the various possible scenarios and aims to see it through to the end.
“Anyone who knows me even a little knows that pressuring me in a certain direction is the surest way to make me go exactly in the opposite direction,” he insisted.
Another thing he was sure would happen was that the leader of Chega, André Ventura, would enter the presidential race.
“This nuisance for several weeks, where Chega was tactically faced with the difficulty of making a decision, was a small first victory,” he reinforced.
He added, “Let’s see how the rest goes, but from the point of view of a more heated and clearer debate in these presidential elections, I have absolutely no doubt that it will be a good contribution.”
