“Regardless of what the Constitutional Court says, I believe this law can never be enacted. It can never be enacted for what I said: we are not that country. We are not the country where a child is born and lives here, completes the entire first cycle of education, and never has the right to nationality. What is this?” questioned Catarina Martins.
The presidential candidate, supported by BE, was speaking to journalists during a visit to the Oeiras market in Lisbon district, responding to a question about her expectations regarding the Constitutional Court’s decision on the nationality law, expected to be announced this Monday.
Catarina Martins expressed that she awaits the decision from the Constitutional Court, which “will say what it thinks,” but considered that the nationality law, “as it stands, offends” what Portugal represents.
“How do we explain that a child can reach nine years of age, not know any other country, have completed all schooling here, and not have access to Portuguese nationality? Portugal is not that,” she argued.
For Catarina Martins, “Portugal is a country that embraces a team where there are children of Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea, from so many places.”
“That’s who we are. (…) I don’t know what the Constitutional Court will decide, but I am certain that the majority of the Portuguese population does not agree with this law if they understand what is at stake. Because we are a country that has always respected children, has always respected people,” she maintained, advocating for “a President of the Republic who knows how to bring the Government to its senses.”
The presidential candidate also criticized the Government’s timing regarding the nationality law, accusing it of proceeding “at the same time as presenting the State Budget” to see if “it could divert attention from its irresponsibility” and avoid discussions on salaries and pensions.
Asked about André Ventura’s position on the Government’s labor package, Catarina Martins considered the Chega leader’s change in stance as “the greatest proof that the general strike was an enormous success, because they were afraid to say what they think, which is they don’t care about the workers.”
“They realized they had to change their discourse because it was unpopular,” she stated, emphasizing that the strike made clear there is an “overwhelming majority of the population” that does not accept “young people working in precarious conditions all their lives” or “someone being dismissed to be replaced by any ‘outsourcing.'”
“I think the Government has to back down because it’s obvious it doesn’t have a majority in Portugal for that labor law, which will lower wages and rights for everyone and all generations,” she noted.
After several presidential candidates accused one another of lacking transparency regarding labor legislation, Catarina Martins asserted there is no lack of clarity on her part.
“The Government’s proposal, as it stands, will not pass with me. It will go to the Constitutional Court, face a political veto, and encounter strong opposition every day,” she assured.
In her statements to journalists, Catarina Martins was also asked about the appeal for a useful vote made by her opponent António José Seguro during an interview with TSF, warning that “democracy is under attack.”
Catarina Martins questioned whether democracy is defended by asking for votes for oneself or “by having clear positions that genuinely defend democracy.”
Asked if there isn’t a possibility of a second round with two right-wing candidates, Catarina Martins replied: “There is a possibility of a second round with a female President of the Republic for the first time. Shall we work towards that?”
