Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa attended the PSD Summer University today, a training initiative for young cadres running until Sunday in Castelo de Vide, Portalegre. Although initially expected to participate via videoconference, he made a surprise personal appearance.
During a session titled “The President’s Answers,” the head of state was asked about the role of the PSD amid growing populist forces. He acknowledged that social democrats face “a difficult task” at the center-right, comparing this challenge to that faced by the PS on the center-left.
Nevertheless, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa suggested a path forward: “If it fails – I think it has the means to succeed, just like the PS – to assert the distinction of moderation that differentiates center-right from more radical right, solving the problems of the Portuguese, then the role of such parties becomes very difficult, and that is not good news for democracy,” he stated.
“It’s not that there isn’t room in democracy for all formations and political positions. However, it’s clear that it’s easier to form coalitions, reach consensus, and find solutions at the center, if a center-right party is indeed center-right and not radical right,” he remarked.
In his initial remarks, which covered the state of the world, Europe, and Portugal, the President of the Republic had already issued a warning.
“This is not the era of the moderates with whom democracies were traditionally made, center-left, center-right. This is the era of the radicals with whom democracies are made differently, and we are all discovering how they will be made, with which institutions and in what manner,” he warned.
The President recalled that he had warned for several years of the fragmentation in the national political system, especially on the right, which eventually happened, without specifically mentioning parties like Chega or IL.
“This rebalancing is what is currently being considered, generally across various countries in Europe and also in Portugal (…) And we come to the first question posed: What can a center-right party do if it does not have an absolute majority? It must make choices regarding the areas where understanding is possible with those who can enable majority solutions,” he stated.
The head of state emphasized that when he was the opposition leader, he chose to grant the minority government led by socialist António Guterres the conditions “to govern as if it had an absolute majority,” as Portugal was on the brink of joining the Euro, enabling the passage of three budgets.
“It’s not even possible to say that this formula could be repeated now. Because this formula was possible with a smaller number of parties and with the PSD having enormous strength,” he said.
Therefore, he considered that the current PSD has a “difficult task” to complete, “no matter how much people feel they should govern as if there were an absolute majority.”
In his initial remarks, the President of the Republic contextualized the changes in the national political system with what is happening in Europe and the world, admitting that “a new cycle is beginning,” dominated by those who did not experience the transition from dictatorship to democracy.
“It must be viewed with some rationality these realities, even when they are very emotional, creating a new reality – it is an April reality, because it is democratic, but on different terms,” he considered.
For the President of the Republic, if this does not happen, it could repeat, both in Europe and in Portugal, what happened concerning Donald Trump’s leadership in the United States: “What, for many, is the astonishment towards Trumpism, will be the astonishment towards a mini-Trumpism, or a neo-Trumpism,” he warned.
