“Now is really the time for the people of Porto to decide who they want in the city hall. There are two things people know about me: first, they know I don’t leave Porto. I am always from Porto and I always stay in Porto working for Porto. Second, they know that I am a person of dialogue, someone capable of understanding with others,” he said.
He added, “Even the way I constituted the lists and the support I garnered proves that I am a person of dialogue, capable of governing with stability, whatever the outcome of the elections.”
Manuel Pizarro also had few words when invited to comment on accusations of “spending” and alleged lack of “character” made by independent candidate Filipe Araújo against the head of the PSD-CDS-IL coalition list, Pedro Duarte, in an interview with Observador.
“I think a positive campaign is better. But it is a case to say, in the relationship between the PSD and Filipe Araújo, the popular saying, ‘when the godmothers quarrel, the truths are known’,” responded Manuel Pizarro.
The candidate’s campaign day started with a bicycle ride from Forte de S. João Baptista (Foz) to Cais da Estiva (Ribeira), a four-kilometer stretch, during which Manuel Pizarro stated,” It confirmed what I already knew: the city of Porto does not have good conditions for cycling paths and there is no reason why it shouldn’t.”
“More initiative is needed, giving effective priority to cycling paths. When pathways where you can ride a bicycle are shared with traffic, we are unsafe and disturb car traffic. It is not good for those who ride bicycles or for those who drive cars. We have to be bolder in creating paths so that people can enjoy this extraordinary city,” he argued.
In her campaign intervention, the Mayor of Paris gave strong support to the candidate, recalling that she won four elections for the French capital’s city hall and that “she already smells Pizarro’s victory in Porto.”
“Manuel, you are the city of Porto, the entire city of Porto,” she stated.
Manuel Pizarro also announced that in the last week of the campaign, he will have a morning to show the land where he plans to build the promised five thousand affordable housing units.
Manuel Pizarro (PS), Diana Ferreira (CDU – coalition PCP/PEV), Nuno Cardoso (Porto Primeiro – coalition NC/PPM), Pedro Duarte (PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition), Sérgio Aires (BE), the current vice-president Filipe Araújo (Fazer à Porto – independent), Guilherme Alexandre Jorge (Volt), Hélder Sousa (Livre), Miguel Corte-Real (Chega), Frederico Duarte Carvalho (ADN), Maria Amélia Costa (PTP), and Luís Tinoco Azevedo (PLS) are running for the Porto City Hall.
The current executive is composed of a majority of six elected from Rui Moreira’s movement and an independent councilor, with the remaining two elected from PS, two from PSD, one from CDU, and one from BE.
The municipal elections will be held on the 12th.
