“I would like to challenge the PS candidate to tell the city of Porto if he agrees with the state of denial in which the PS continues to maintain itself in this area of immigration,” stated Pedro Duarte.
During a visit to Bairro das Condominhas, in the Union of Parishes of Lordelo do Ouro and Massarelos, the social democrat recalled that the PS voted against the new version of the foreigners’ law, which “finally imposes rules on the entry of people into the country and also into the city of Porto.”
He added, “The truth is that the socialist candidate was part of the Government, the well-known Government of open doors that led to the difficult situation the country is in today, namely with absolutely uncontrolled, unregulated immigration that favored illegalities and circumstances that we all know.”
The former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs stressed that there is, nowadays, a national willingness to change and try to rectify “the mistakes that were made by the PS.”
For this reason, Pedro Duarte considered it “very important” to understand if Pizarro agrees with the PS’s Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, who said the party has “an alternative path” regarding immigration regulation, accusing the Government of “political opportunism” in scheduling the new foreigners’ law during the local elections.
“It was very important to understand if the socialist candidate agrees with his national PS leader or if, on the contrary, endorses what is the position of the current Government and what is also my position, of having controlled, regulated immigration that does not lead to abuses that, unfortunately, we have witnessed,” he insisted.
The Assembly of the Republic approved on Tuesday the new version of the foreigners’ law with favorable votes from PSD, CDS-PP, Chega, IL, and JPP, and against votes from PS, Livre, PCP, BE, and PAN.
The new version of the decree approving the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit, and removal of foreigners from the national territory, which had been rejected by the Constitutional Court in August, was approved in a final global vote after all party-proposed amendments were voted on in detail.
Competing for the Porto City Council are Manuel Pizarro (PS), Diana Ferreira (CDU – PCP/PEV coalition), Nuno Cardoso (Porto Primeiro – NC/PPM coalition), Pedro Duarte (PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition), Sérgio Aires (BE), the current vice-president Filipe Araújo (Fazer à Porto – independent), Guilherme Alexandre Jorge (Volt), Hélder Sousa (Livre), Miguel Corte-Real (Chega), Frederico Duarte Carvalho (ADN), Maria Amélia Costa (PTP), and Luís Tinoco Azevedo (PLS).
The current executive has a majority of six elected from Rui Moreira’s movement and one independent councilor, two elected from PS, two from PSD, one from CDU, and one from BE.
The local elections are on October 12.
