Ascenso Simões and Diogo Feio examined the potential impact of the August wildfires on the upcoming local elections, scheduled for October 12th, on the program ‘Beyond the Obvious’ on SIC Notícias, Sunday.
Ascenso Simões stated that although “wildfires are a major problem for the country,” their impact on election results may be minimal since “responsibilities are shared between central government and local administration.”
He expressed that “wildfires will not be decisive for the electoral outcome,” adding that “the effect [of the fires] on local elections might be insignificant, both for the PSD, which holds national power, and for the PS and PCP, which govern some of the municipalities affected by the fires.”
The former socialist deputy admitted during the commentary that he doesn’t place “much importance on local elections at the national level,” recalling that in 1989, “the PS elected the mayors of Lisbon and Porto,” yet two years later, in 1991, Cavaco Silva (PSD) “achieved his second absolute majority.”
For this reason, the former parliamentarian believes that the local elections are only “relevant to understand how parties can influence community life and the life of each municipality.”
[News in development]
