During a campaign walk on Avenida da Igreja in Lisbon, accompanied by CDU’s mayoral candidate João Ferreira, Paulo Raimundo emphasized the PCP’s decision not to join a coalition with the PS. Raimundo accused the PS of being complicit in the management under Carlos Moedas.
“That’s what the PS has done over the past four years. We were not going to be complicit in that,” stated Raimundo. When asked whether the PCP ever considered joining Alexandra Leitão’s coalition, Raimundo responded that the PS never considered withdrawing support from Moedas’s management.
“What would we do? Betray those we work with in the neighborhoods who demand transport and housing, those who know that Lisbon needs more houses, not hotels? Is that what we would do?” he questioned.
The PCP’s general secretary pointed out that although other parties like Livre and BE might act differently, the CDU and João Ferreira would not, emphasizing their commitment over the past four years.
“Here, there is consistency and conviction, but not betrayal of the population,” he stated.
Raimundo argued that an “alternative for Lisbon is open,” led by João Ferreira, and stressed the need to expand this alternative in the final hours before the election.
“Lisbon needs an alternative response. It doesn’t need to defeat Moedas and continue Moedas’s policies,” he remarked.
When questioned about potential consequences for himself if the CDU fails to retain the 19 councils, Raimundo replied: “Maybe I’ll have a stomachache, that’s likely, perhaps a headache.”
“But our position is consistent: fight with head held high, a smile on the face, and engage with the people, which is what we enjoy,” he affirmed, emphasizing the PCP’s difference from other political forces.
“Elsewhere, heads roll to maintain the same strategy. Here, heads remain to uphold the same strategy,” he noted.
During the walk, Raimundo and Ferreira visited various businesses, distributed leaflets, and were eventually joined by activist Diogo Faro and former CGTP leader Isabel Camarinha, accompanied by several hundred supporters.
At the close of the event, during a small rally near the Alvalade Market, Raimundo addressed a question posed to João Ferreira by journalists about the potential for PCP-PS talks following the elections if PS wins Lisbon’s City Hall.
Raimundo echoed Ferreira’s sentiment: “Who are we going to talk to on Monday? We will speak with those we talked to today, yesterday, these past four years, during all this ongoing struggle and action.”
Raimundo stated that the PCP would engage “with the thousands of neighborhood residents,” small business owners, firefighters, students, and the youth, as well as “all those facing eviction threats,” and public transport users.
“We will talk with those who are people like us, and we are like them, deserving of a city that meets their lives and needs,” he said, urging voters to “reaffirm the courage of this city” and support the CDU in the upcoming election.
