Carlos César addressed journalists at the conclusion of the National Committee meeting today in Penafiel, Porto district, where the PS’s support for António José Seguro in next year’s presidential elections was approved with only two abstentions and no votes against.
“The choice we have to make is, by evaluating the candidates, to determine who is the best. And for the Socialist Party, the best is Dr. António José Seguro,” he asserted.
When asked about the terms of support, Carlos César explained that it is the formalization of this support, but the party “does not determine the individual behavior of people, whether they are its leaders, members, or sympathizers.”
“What the Socialist Party approved today was formal support as an institution for one of the candidates, and here the Socialist Party exhausts its participation as an autonomous entity in the presidential election. The rest of this presidential election is up to the candidates to express their views and for the citizens to choose based on what they see in the candidates,” he defended.
The PS president argued that elections are “an act of freedom,” noting “the Socialist Party has a preference for this candidate.”
“The Socialist Party’s choice, as the approved resolution clearly states, does not prevent members from deciding otherwise if they, in good conscience, believe that is the decision they should make,” he emphasized.
For Carlos César, the PS “is not at all divided.”
“It is united in the assessment of the electoral recovery we achieved in these local elections, united in our communication to vote in abstention to enable the State Budget, and united in the resolution we approved to support Dr. Seguro’s candidacy,” he stressed.
