“We are in a pre-election campaign environment, and this environment is always one of some exaggeration and excess. But my appeal is for people to discuss everything with greater calmness, as these party disputes are not useful to anyone,” he stated.
Marques Mendes spoke to the press after visiting the Luiz Pereira Motta Association in the Loures municipality, following a question regarding Carlos Moedas’ interview on SIC on Sunday. The mayor criticized the “politicization” surrounding the Gloria elevator derailment and accused socialist candidate Alexandra Leitão of not calling for his resignation directly but assigning “her henchmen” to do so.
Asked whether Carlos Moedas’ statements were excessive, Marques Mendes refused to comment specifically, maintaining that “this is neither a time for resignations nor accusations, it is a time for investigations.”
“At this moment, no one knows why those terrible 16 deaths occurred. That is the first thing we need to know, and thus, some calm is required,” he argued.
For the former PSD leader, responsibility can only be determined once the causes are identified.
“I insist: it is a pre-election environment that invites some excess and exaggeration. But I make an appeal to everyone, those more to the right and those more to the left, to focus on the essential. And the essential is to calmly wait for the investigations,” he emphasized.
Marques Mendes visited today the Associação Luís Pereira Motta, an institution that cares for children and the elderly, totaling around 500 users.
Speaking to journalists, Mendes praised the institution and emphasized the importance of such associations in a country facing a “serious problem” of aging and the need to promote birth rates through the availability of nurseries and kindergartens.
The presidential candidate was recognized by several of the elderly during his visit, who knew him “from television,” and he even received a birthday cake after celebrating his 68th birthday on Friday.
“So, sooner or later, I will be here or in a similar place,” joked Marques Mendes.
