Augusto Santos Silva is expected to decide in the coming days whether he will run for President of the Republic and will announce his decision next Wednesday, July 2.
In a note published on his Facebook account, the socialist asserts that “the three candidacies formally announced so far do not exhaust the political space or the proposals and profiles that should be represented in the presidential elections next January.”
Furthermore, he notes that a candidacy from António Vitorino would be “welcome” due to his political qualities.
“Yesterday, however, he declined to do so, a decision I deeply regret but naturally respect,” writes Santos Silva, explaining that this compels him “to a new reflection on the potential presidential candidacies,” including the possible submission of his candidacy.
Thus, the former president of the Assembly of the Republic will, in the coming days, consult with people whose opinions he values “very much” on this matter.
“If everything proceeds normally, and considering my own professional engagements, I intend to publicly communicate the decision I make on Wednesday, July 2,” he concludes.
This week, former minister Augusto Santos Silva argued that the PS should support a presidential candidacy representing a movement for democracy and considered that none of the candidates presented so far could embody it.
According to the former president of the Assembly of the Republic, “the result of the legislative elections only makes it more evident” that the PS should use the presidential elections “to affirm a significant electoral movement in favor of democracy, because that is what is at stake today and that is what a President can most contribute to.”
Recall that on Thursday, former European commissioner António Vitorino announced that he will not run in the presidential elections next year, stating that his candidacy “failed to gather the consensus” needed to be the sole candidate in his political area.
“I will not present myself as a candidate. I have always said, I have always been consistent, that there should be only one candidate in this political area (…) and clearly there is an objective fact: my candidacy did not achieve the consensus necessary to be a single candidacy from this area and therefore I will not present myself,” announced António Vitorino on SIC Notícias.
[Updated at 3:41 PM]
