The President of the Republic was criticized today by students against fossil fuels at the Camões Secondary School in Lisbon, to whom he handed the microphone and at the end asked for a round of applause.
“I ask for a round of applause for those who spoke, because this is April 25th. Under a dictatorship they would have been arrested, taken to jail, forbidden to speak and the President of the Republic would not have asked for a round of applause for them. That’s the difference between democracy and dictatorship,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The students demonstrated when the head of state, at the beginning of his speech on April 25, 1974, praised Liceu Camões “for the activism of its teachers and students”, including “activism in environmental matters”.
Hearing the protests, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa immediately went to the part of the pavilion where the students were and handed them the microphone so that they could be heard.
Three young people spoke into the microphone, one by one, declaring that they don’t feel represented by this President of the Republic.
In front of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, they considered that he was failing in the fight against climate change, but also in the defense of transgender youth and condemned the statements he made to the diplomatic representative of the Palestinian Authority.
One of the young people asked “everyone who doesn’t feel represented by this President of the Republic to stand up in a silent protest” and around 20 students out of around 800 stood up.
He then asked the group of students to leave the hall, which they did not do. The head of state then took the floor again and asked those who had spoken to give a round of applause.