“We speak, without exception, to every one of our fellow citizens. We speak to be a majority, not to be a niche,” emphasized Rui Tavares at an election rally dinner in Braga, where he expressed his ambition to elect a deputy for the first time, specifically the top candidate, Jorge Araújo.
Addressing a well-attended room of supporters, the leader of Livre began his speech with a question: “What does Livre have that is different from the others?”
First and foremost, ecology, he answered, adding that Livre is the only party, as a full member of the European Green Party, running alone on the ballot.
“There is no other with these conditions in Portugal; a green vote, an ecological vote in Portugal is a vote for Livre,” he stated.
Secondly, Rui Tavares continued, Livre is a party that speaks, without exception, to everyone.
“And we know that everyone in our country has within them the values capable of understanding what we say to them,” he reinforced.
Besides these two characteristics, the spokesperson for Livre also mentioned that Livre does not deceive anyone or claim to be neither left nor right.
He reiterated, “We are left-wing, we are at the heart of the left; we are certainly not a centrist party, and certainly not an extremist party.”
Amidst applause, Rui Tavares emphasized that Livre is a radically balanced party, sometimes, when necessary, cautiously radical.
Moreover, it is a left-wing party with responsibility and the capability, both in parliament and on local or national executives, to have a say in changing people’s lives, he pointed out.
Finally, Rui Tavares insisted, as he has done daily throughout the electoral campaign, that Livre is a party that claims freedom on the left, something he believes is lacking in others.
“We are not content with a lukewarm freedom,” he concluded.
