Hugo Soares, leading the national municipal tour of the PSD due to Luís Montenegro’s participation as prime minister in the informal European Council in Copenhagen, spoke at the campaign headquarters in São Brás de Alportel. There, the party supports Bruno Sousa Costa for the third time in a coalition with CDS-PP.
In the Algarve, the social democrat acknowledged the significant impact of immigration and remarked that Tuesday, when a new bill on the entry and residence of foreigners was approved, was a “great day” for the country.
“Sometimes, it pains me to hear the PS, which denied this reality and even yesterday denied it again by voting against the foreigner’s law, speaking as if we were creating difficulties for those who seek us, as if we didn’t respect those who want to come here, making us out to be the bad guys and them the good ones,” he said.
He posed a question to the socialists: “Are the good ones those who allowed so many immigrants to live crowded, ten, fifteen, twenty of them in an apartment? Is that really being good, is that welcoming well, is that being humane?” he questioned.
The PSD’s secretary-general asserted that the government is “at the center of moderation” on this matter, feeling “perfectly fine having the extreme left and right on each side.”
“Each on one side and us in the center of moderation,” he emphasized.
Hugo Soares acknowledged that in the municipal elections on October 12, there is “a challenging starting point” for the PSD, with 35 fewer councils than the PS. However, he reiterated the goal for these elections.
“Don’t take it the wrong way, we’re not the PCP, we don’t win when we lose, we only win when we actually win. For me to say that we have an election night victory, a victory by gaining more councils than the Socialist Party, is to win the National Association of Municipalities,” he stressed.
The secretary-general noted a “very strong dynamic” in the PSD’s candidacies, attributed, in part, to early election preparations and the selection of good candidates, but also to national issues.
“It also has to do, I confess in my view, with how the Portuguese people have perceived the governance of the AD government,” he said.
Particularly in the region, he stated that the PSD/CDS-PP government has prioritized the Algarve in areas such as water, housing, security, and health.
“If it weren’t for this government, there will indeed be a new hospital in the Algarve region, and it is because of the AD government’s impetus,” he stated.
In São Brás de Alportel, Hugo Soares predicted that “the third time will be the charm” and warned that voting for Chega in this municipality is “throwing votes away.”
Earlier in Loulé, Hugo Soares was asked about the absence of the Chega leader, André Ventura, from the municipal campaign and the parliamentary debate on the foreigners law. He declined to speculate.
“I believe if he wasn’t there it was because he couldn’t be, honestly I don’t make any political reading of it. He’s a party leader, has been absent from the campaign for two days, maybe for various reasons, but I’m not going to speculate on that,” he said.
