“I will launch a challenge as the mayor to the Government of Portugal for us to collaboratively create a special plan to enhance security for the city of Porto. I firmly want Porto to be a pilot city in effectively combating insecurity,” he stated.
The former Social Democratic minister spoke on the seventh floor of the Palácio dos Correios, adjacent to Porto City Hall, in a speech preceding the address by the Prime Minister and PSD President, Luís Montenegro.
The candidate advocates for “more resources, more police officers, more technology, more video surveillance,” but especially “a new attitude towards the issue of insecurity.”
“We will change this attitude, addressing the drug issue and being intolerant and relentless with drug consumption in public spaces. (…) We will create a proposal, Porto Feliz 2.0, to find a solution by providing necessary treatment, creating conditions for reintegration, and simultaneously implementing a repressive policy to prevent our city from being populated by individuals who evidently sleep on the streets,” he said.
Pedro Duarte considers this situation “detrimental to the dignity” of these individuals and “very harmful for a city that aims to be safe.”
Moreover, he plans to maintain the strictness advocated for policies in this area also “in overseeing situations” of overcrowded houses by creating “inspection teams” to flag these occurrences.
“The same can be said for the overwhelming number of ‘souvenir’ shops in the city. They do not only harm local commerce. Many of them, as we know, are façades,” he noted.
In a speech addressing housing issues and municipal financial rigor, he heavily criticized the PS and its candidate, Manuel Pizarro, highlighting that Porto has “10 councilor candidates and only two mayoral candidates,” each with contrasting visions for the municipality.
“The PS downplays the problem of insecurity in the city. Regarding drugs, the candidate states that an organization was created in Lisbon to solve the drug problem. We feel the daily results of this socialist governance in Health,” an area where Pizarro served as minister, he critiqued.
According to Pedro Duarte, the socialists “propose the National Republican Guard (GNR) on horseback in social neighborhoods.” “We can already imagine the GNR chasing traffickers on horseback. This is the socialist proposal,” he alleged.
Upon arrival, Luís Montenegro stated that the “social-democratic, Christian, and liberal” candidacy addresses “challenges at the level of security, housing, and regulated immigration.”
“This is one of the demands I hear on the streets of Porto, a request coming from the immigrants themselves, who are integrated in the labor market here and want conditions for everyone to receive dignified treatment,” he said.
The official also noted alignments with Pedro Duarte on security, offering high praise to a “friend” from college days whom he invited to the previous government, exchanging mutual compliments.
Candidates for Porto City Hall include 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), 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 comprises a majority of six elected members from Rui Moreira’s movement and an independent councilor, with the remaining seats held by two PS, two PSD, one CDU, and one BE representatives.
The municipal elections are scheduled for October 12.
Catarina Correia Rocha | 09:30 – 03/10/2025
