During a visit to the Feira das Cantarinhas in Bragança, on the first day of the official campaign, the delegation of AD took a break at Café Lisboa, where Luís Montenegro was confronted with questions regarding whether the resignation of Hernâni Dias was at the root of the crisis leading to early elections on May 18.
“Don’t say that, don’t say that because it is not correct. That is not true. That is not true. It is not true. It is not true,” reiterated Montenegro, who is also a candidate for prime minister, describing as imprudent the fact that his former Secretary of State established a company after joining the government.
Montenegro challenged the media to observe the electoral results in this district on May 18.
“Let’s do the math on the 18th. I will tell you something, I am absolutely certain that we will win the elections in Bragança by a large margin,” he asserted.
The only government reshuffle, on February 13, occurred more than ten months after its inauguration, involving the replacement of six Secretaries of State, though no ministers were changed.
The reshuffle stemmed from the resignation of the Secretary of State for Local Administration and Territorial Planning, Hernâni Dias, following reports by RTP that he had established two real estate companies while serving as a government official, and when he was responsible for the decree amending the Legal Regime of Territorial Management Tools, the so-called land law.
In his stead, the prime minister appointed Silvério Regalado, with reports surfacing about direct awards made between Montenegro’s law firm from 2015 to 2021, before he led the party, and the municipality of Vagos headed by the new Secretary of State.
Shortly after, on February 15, Correio da Manhã released initial reports concerning the family company of the prime minister, Spinumviva, whose share was transferred to his wife and children upon his appointment as leader of the PSD, later completely owned by his children.
This issue led to two no-confidence motions against the government, from Chega and PCP, both rejected, and a PS proposal for a mandatory inquiry commission on the matter, culminating in the rejection of a confidence vote presented by the government, resulting in the executive’s resignation.
At the Feira das Cantarinhas, amidst the usual photographs and greetings, Luís Montenegro also had flowers to distribute on Mother’s Day.
“First of all, we must offer a future to our children. That is what concerns many mothers in Portugal,” he later stated to journalists.
Montenegro reiterated that one of AD’s priorities is to prevent young people from having to leave Portugal for professional or economic reasons if they don’t wish to.
“Our utmost priority is indeed to ensure that it’s unnecessary for children to have good projects and for parents to enjoy close accompaniment of their children’s lives and, one day later, their grandchildren’s lives as is normally expected,” he said.
Among the many women he greeted, the PSD leader met one who introduced herself as “a neighbor.”
“You are from my village, you are from Rabal (…) And we have adjoining property in Rabal,” she said, referring to one of the properties Montenegro disclosed he owned in the municipality of Bragança at the beginning of the Spinumviva controversy.
[Updated at 13:01]
