“With a CDU administration in the Lisbon City Council, the management of Carris would never have been passed into private hands, as was done by the PS and furthered by the PSD and CDS. And this is the reality. Now, in a sad spectacle, they attempt to turn this tragedy into a blame-shifting session where the PSD attacks the PS and the PS responds to the PSD in a spectacle that seeks to distract from the central issue,” he stated.
Speaking at the presentation of the CDU candidates for Lisbon in the municipal elections on October 12, Paulo Raimundo argued that “PS and PSD are responsible for the situation Carris has reached in all its facets.”
“They can protest a lot and even do handstands, but they cannot wash off these responsibilities,” he affirmed.
The communist secretary-general referred to a laundry detergent, warning the socialists: “The PS may now try to scrub, but there’s no OMO that can clean the stains of their wrong decisions from the years they were in charge.”
“When [Lisbon Mayor Carlos] Moedas cut four million from Carris to divert to the Web Summit, the PS had a hand in those scissors that made the cut. When Moedas decided that Lisbon’s path was more hotels, more hotels, more hotels, PS was there in the photo at all these inaugurations. When Moedas presented all the municipal budgets, the PS was always there to ensure these same budgets moved forward with the consequences we are witnessing,” he emphasized.
Paulo Raimundo argued that “PS and PSD are not the same, but unfortunately for the people of Lisbon, there are many similarities in terms of municipal governance.”
The communist secretary-general considered this “a problem that must be taken into account” in the upcoming municipal elections, urging a vote for the CDU, stating it is “the only solution presented for the people of Lisbon.”
Raimundo then highlighted the “honesty, work, and competence” of the candidate for the presidency of the Lisbon City Council, noting that João Ferreira, currently a councilor without portfolio, will be “a present president who assumes responsibilities, takes necessary measures, and represents a project, a team, that puts the interests of the populations above business, appearances, and certain achievements.”
Regarding electoral objectives, the communist indicated they aim to “go as far as possible.”
“What is truly at stake in the elections on the 12th is not the choice between the alternation of PSD’s Carlos Moedas with the servitude of ‘Mileis’ at his side, and a PS with others who decided to join hands with a PS that has both hands tied to the wrong choices of the current administration,” he noted.
“The real electoral contest is between two distinct projects: A project that is in service of a few on behalf of many, and the people’s project, which is CDU’s project that serves all in this city, this municipality, these populations. Lisbon does not need alternation; Lisbon needs an alternative, and that alternative is here in the CDU and only in the CDU,” he highlighted.
Paulo Raimundo further stated that “Lisbon does not need and cannot continue to be sold in pieces,” and that the city “needs to be reclaimed,” ensuring “conditions for those who live here, work here, and study here.”
