José Luís Carneiro declared on Saturday his “vision” for the Socialist Party (PS) aligns with what party members and the Portuguese people “desire,” announcing his candidacy for the position of secretary-general “by choice” and a “sense of duty”.
“I am re-entering the race because I remain convinced that the vision I advocate for the PS and the way I perceive it should position itself in Portuguese society corresponds to what both the members and the Portuguese expect,” he stated during his candidacy presentation at the PS headquarters in Lisbon.
The Socialist pledged to the PS founders present that he will “honor the values and principles that brought us from clandestinity to freedom and to the fundamental achievements that have made this country one of the most developed in Europe.”
“Count on my strength, my determination, and my courage,” he affirmed. “I am a candidate by choice, but also by a sense of duty.”
The PS secretary-general candidate called for internal unity within the party, avoiding “mutual blows” or introspection, promising to refrain from “personal and superficial attacks in the public sphere.”
“I urge socialists to unite in their diversity, to begin the return path that the defense of our ideals calls for,” he stated.
The former PS minister, currently the sole candidate to succeed Pedro Nuno Santos, warned that those “left behind by neoliberal policies,” “discriminated by conservative policies,” or who do not see improvements in their quality of life, wages, or public services, will not forgive the party if it remains “navel-gazing.”
“They will not forgive us if we now focus on ourselves or engage in mutual attacks on our credibility and qualities, instead of organizing ourselves to defend them, which is the party’s reason for being,” he affirmed.
José Luís Carneiro acknowledged that the PS is “experiencing a difficult moment” and faced an “undesirable result” in the May legislatives, losing votes “to the right across all social groups.”
“What I will strive to do and ask you to do is a thorough analysis of where we failed, when we failed, and what we should have done differently,” he said.
He immediately urged against confusing such reflection with any “internal settling of scores or yielding to attempts from” the PS’s main opponents, a portion of his speech that received considerable applause.
“Analysis and debate? Yes, to the fullest. Personal and superficial attacks in the public sphere? No, never. With me, you will not find that,” he assured.
[News in update]
