“I don’t know if there will be a strike by freelance doctors, but I hope not. I appeal for a strike not to proceed. I sincerely appeal for them to sit at the negotiating table with the government, and for the government to open a negotiation process,” he stated.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that a group of more than a thousand freelance doctors is preparing to strike emergency services when the government’s decree regulating medical work on a service provision basis is published.
In remarks to journalists at the end of the first session of the presidential election cycle promoted by SEDES Jovem in Lisbon, Luís Marques Mendes warned of a “very unstable climate” in the health sector.
“We need some stability. We are in a very tense situation, we need a more balanced climate. I only see one solution: dialogue and negotiation. The solution is not a strike, the solution is negotiation. I appeal to the government and to the freelance doctors; it’s a constructive way to try to find a solution,” he argued.
For the presidential candidate supported by the PSD, the possible strike by freelance doctors could add “a much more serious problem” to those already existing in the National Health Service.
Marques Mendes also responded to today’s challenge by André Ventura of Chega, who invited him, along with Henrique Gouveia e Melo and António José Seguro, to a debate on health.
“We are going to have dozens of debates, so there’s no need to add more. At this point, we need to resolve the issues. Count me out for politicking,” he assured.
The former government official also commented on the decision by the National Elections Commission, which concluded that presidential candidate André Ventura’s posters with references to the Roma community and Bangladesh do not constitute an “electoral offense,” recalling his previous stance that the issue was not judicial but political.
“I think everyone has the right to have different opinions on immigration, but we should stop treating immigrants in the humiliating and provocative way that some do. It’s one thing to disagree with policies, but it’s another to respect people,” he clarified at the end of the debate promoted by SEDES Jovem.
SEDES – Associação para o Desenvolvimento Económico e Social is a Portuguese civic organization founded in 1970.
The presidential elections are scheduled for January 18, 2026.
