Former minister Miguel Relvas commented on Wednesday regarding the selection of the lead candidates for the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which was announced yesterday. This selection includes both current and former government officials, notably Hernâni Dias, who resigned as Secretary of State for Local Administration and Spatial Planning following a controversy related to land law and an ensuing investigation.
“We must be consistent. If his presence in the government was imprudent a month ago, it remains so today,” stated the social democrat during his commentary segment on CNN Portugal.
Emphasizing that Hernâni Dias has stepped down as secretary of state, Miguel Relvas reiterated: “If he ceased being secretary of state, this question arises today.”
The former secretary-general of the Social Democratic Party also admitted that he belongs to “those who think that today the lists matter very little. The Parliament is not exactly dignified. The most prominent figures in the country do not want to be deputies. What do we have today? More Government and less society,” he critiqued regarding the composition of the Assembly of the Republic.
Drawing from his own experience and his active political life, Miguel Relvas recalled a time when “parties sought figures from society, from various sectors of society. More than members of the government or party members. It was emblematic to find two or three notable independents. Today? Zero independents. It was more PSD and less society,” he stated.
When questioned about whether Luís Montenegro’s intention was a form of self-validation and also for his ministers, Relvas questioned the efficacy of such a possibility. “From now on, they will become targets,” he argued, saying that all the lead candidates who hold roles as government officials will be “compared to candidates for deputies” due to their actions as “members of the government in management.”
“Except for those who are in political life,” he noted, citing examples of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs or Infrastructure and Housing, Paulo Range and Miguel Pinto Luz respectively, who were already PSD members—and would “be candidates” regardless of being ministers.
“The government is going to create a problem for itself with the opposition parties and the country, which will lead to widespread suspicion,” he remarked.
