António José Seguro, candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, asserted on Thursday that his candidacy is “individual” and “non-partisan” and “did not emerge from a ‘party committee deal'”, thus dismissing concerns over the lack of support from the Socialist Party (PS).
“This presidential candidacy is an individual candidacy. If there is an election in Portugal where parties do not have a monopoly, it is this one,” he explained in an interview with TVI, adding that presidential candidacies “arise from each person’s will and conviction.”
“And so, the Socialist Party, like all other parties, has its strategies and timing, which I respect,” he added.
António José Seguro recalled that the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (PS), José Luís Carneiro, “said that the PS would comment on presidential candidacies after the local elections” and “expects this to happen.”
Faced with the lack of support from some historic socialists, including the former President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, who considered that he does not meet the “minimum requirements,” the former Secretary-General of the PS stated that this is not his “focus nor concern.”
“I am running for the country and because I look at my country and see that there are people facing immense difficulties. That there are workers who, despite working and having their salary, live in poverty. That today the middle and lower classes face difficulties accessing housing. I see the state retreating and creating gaps and see a democracy with a very thin layer,” he declared.
Seguro stated that he had the “responsibility to look at the country” and “ask” if he can “help or contribute in some way by serving as President of the Republic.”
“The answer was: ‘Yes, I can.’ And I presented myself. I presented myself with a non-partisan candidacy, which will always remain non-partisan,” he emphasized.
“I do not make calculations. My candidacy did not arise from a ‘party committee deal.’ My candidacy comes from the bottom up. And that’s why I have much support from the Right, the Left, and the Center,” he added.
When presenting his candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic in mid-June, Seguro argued that he did not come from “traditional politics, the game of intrigue, the power games.”
He now explained: “I do not come and have always rejected that politics of interest games, intrigue, power for power’s sake. I have always looked at politics as the big ‘P’ politics, the politics that serves. The politics that solves. The politics that presents solutions for the country. That was the meaning of my statement.”
António José Seguro also refused to “make political comments” on the PS’s position and argued that the Portuguese expect him, “as a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic,” to state what his “role and stance are on the serious problems the country is facing at the moment.”
The socialist António José Seguro states that Portugal not only needs stability, but also “confidence.”
Notícias ao Minuto | 19:57 – 03/06/2025
There are already 19 pre-candidates for the Presidency of the Republic
With less than six months to the presidential elections, there are already 19 pre-candidates for Belém, but only three are supported by political parties. They are: Luís Marques Mendes (PSD), António Filipe (PCP), and Joana Amaral Dias (ADN).
Also, António José Seguro, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, Catarina Martins, João Cotrim Figueiredo, André Pestana, Angela Maryah, Bruno Monteiro, Bruno Morgado, Eduardo Lourenço, Emanuel Serra Moleirinho, Joaquim Espadaneira, Hugo Louret Pires, José Cardoso, Manuela Magno, Pedro Tinoco de Faria, Raul Perestrello, and Rui Costa are registered on the Candidature Portal of the Ministry of Internal Administration.
