Rui Tavares launched the third day of his official campaign for the municipal elections on the 12th in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, where Livre is running for the first time alone, without coalitions.
Near the town’s railway station, many passersby accepted flyers featuring the candidate for the City Council, Daniel Ferreira, as well as gifts such as pens and a bamboo-made can opener with Livre’s poppy symbol, all produced by local companies.
In press statements, Tavares was questioned about electoral expectations in a municipality where Sebastião Bugalho is the PSD candidacy’s mandate holder led by David Pato Ferreira, and Paulo Núncio is running for the CDS-PP.
“If Paulo Núncio’s ventures in Vila Franca de Xira all go as well as the one everyone had the chance to see, that won’t be the way to win the hearts, minds, and votes of the people of Vila Franca de Xira,” he joked, referring to a recent video where the centrist parliamentary leader was caught in a running with bulls.
Libre’s goal is to elect at least one councilor in Vila Franca de Xira, where the party is “building a nucleus.”
After a few moments at the railway station, Rui Tavares took a short walk through some of the city’s streets and was immediately approached by António Ramos, who made a plea to him.
“Can I give you a flyer?” Tavares asked, hearing in return: “You have to talk about security, mate.”
António Ramos, a former PSP agent residing in the municipality, warned that “the police stations are in total breakdown.”
“In my day when I joined, we had 60 men in a station. Now there are two or three. People are waiting three and four hours for an incident,” he lamented.
“You talk about security because only one party is doing that,” he urged, referring to Chega, with Rui Tavares responding: “No, that’s not true.”
António Ramos insisted, even saying that the former deputy prime minister and leader of the CDS-PP “took advantage” of the topic.
“I’ve had several opportunities to say that police, security forces in general, can’t be duped by certain parties that talk a lot about them but then end up putting them in a situation of polarization with society itself,” he warned.
Further along, after hearing a citizen wish him “good luck,” Tavares left a flyer for the bus driver to read “when he has a break,” and paused briefly in front of the abandoned Vilafranca Centro shopping center in the city.
Daniel Ferreira, a candidate in the municipality, wants to transform this significant space into one that houses various local associations.
“We would like to know not only the project that will emerge here but if it is a real estate project, at what cost it will be done. And much more also to know why Vila Franca Centro wasn’t considered as a solution for the city’s revitalization,” he stated.
Revitalization was the request of one of Vila Franca’s residents, who, somewhat agitated, told Rui Tavares that the city “is dead.”
“In Vila Franca, cafés close on weekends, on holidays. There will be cafés that will close during the ‘colete encarnado,’ for sure,” she criticized, referring to one of the Ribatejo region’s largest festivals.
Livre’s entourage continued to the municipality’s Official Companion Animal Collection Center, which houses 200 dogs and about two dozen cats.
After visiting the facilities and learning about the animal collection work, Tavares, more of a cat lover with three of his own, confessed he would like to adopt a dog someday, but today wasn’t the day.
Running for the presidency of Vila Franca de Xira’s City Council in the municipal elections on October 12 are Fernando Paulo Ferreira (PS), David Pato Ferreira (Nova Geração coalition — PSD/Iniciativa Liberal), Cláudia Martins (CDU, PCP/PEV coalition), Barreira Soares (Chega), Paulo Núncio (CDS-PP), Catarina Lourenço (BE) and Daniel Ferreira (Livre).
Currently, Vila Franca de Xira’s executive body consists of five elected from the PS (including the president), three from CDU, two from the Nova Geração Coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM), and one from Chega.
