During a press conference to announce the new name of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, following the rejection of the initial version by the Constitutional Court, Hugo Soares addressed inquiries regarding messages sent to PSD members urging them to attend the Bolhão market in Porto, where a Cabinet meeting was held to mark the government’s first year in office.
The Secretary-General and parliamentary leader of the PSD emphasized that all parliamentary groups, through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, are informed of government excursions, and all deputies “are free” to join these initiatives.
“The PSD in Porto decided to inform its members that the government they support, and the prime minister they support, would be in Porto on that occasion, for anyone who wished to be present to greet the government,” he stated.
Hugo Soares highlighted that “the PSD members from Porto did not participate in any Cabinet meeting, nor did they attend any formal government meeting.”
“They were outside to welcome the prime minister, which I believe is absolutely normal and even healthy, demonstrating well the PSD’s commitment to supporting the Government of Portugal,” he asserted.
Hugo Soares was also queried about the announcement made today via an opinion article in Jornal de Notícias by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pedro Duarte, regarding his candidacy for the Porto City Hall.
“I believe you should ask him directly; if it’s a coincidence, I would say it’s a happy coincidence because today Porto received two excellent pieces of news: it had the government members in a Cabinet meeting in Porto – because national territorial cohesion also comes from political gestures – and today Porto received a second good news, having an extraordinary candidate for the City Hall presented by the PSD and CDS,” he remarked.
Regarding Pedro Duarte’s statements already as a candidate on the sidelines of that Cabinet meeting, Hugo Soares considered that “it does not bring any harm to the world.”
“If he hadn’t spoken, we would be here discussing that he avoided questions from journalists. That wasn’t the case, I repeat, today was indeed good news for the national territory and for Porto,” he said.
“A strong political sign of a government of proximity and territorial cohesion, with the decentralized Cabinet meeting in Porto, where a year of governing was celebrated, including the many things the government can present from these past 11 months to solve people’s problems,” he affirmed.
