The leader of the PSD parliamentary group, Hugo Soares, expressed support on Tuesday for the actions of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the Government in managing forest fires, stating that the Executive’s objective “is to govern, not to win the championship of affections,” even if this means “fewer votes” in municipal elections.
“If you ask me whether I prefer the Government to have a better evaluation or perception in terms of communication over the last month, or in the political coordination of operational work, I have no doubt: I prefer to lose in communication and win in effectiveness,” the Social Democrat stated in his interview with CNN Portugal.
“If you tell me that, apparently, the Government has lost in what would be called the championship of affections, but won in political coordination, I also want to say very frankly, with the political costs that may entail: I prefer to win in political coordination and in combating and effectively fighting fires. I truly prefer to have fewer votes and save more lives than to have more votes because I went around giving kisses and hugs,” he insisted.
He also reminded that in 2017, an independent technical commission determined that government members going to the field was “highly detrimental to fighting fires” and criticized Chega’s leader, André Ventura, who appeared on social media putting out a small fire in a video.
“What would be said in this country and by the pundits on Portuguese television if the Prime Minister did what MP André Ventura did,” he remarked.
Montenegro on vacation?
Hugo Soares further argued that Luís Montenegro “interrupted his vacation on the 9th” of August to speak to journalists, responding “to questions about fires,” and expressed confidence that both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, were as present as necessary, “always at the helm of operations” and in “political coordination.”
“The photograph of Montenegro, on a beach day, was on a weekend, where I believe the Prime Minister has the right to go to the beach, and they were not taken by him, unlike other politicians who criticized the Prime Minister (…) while being on vacation, such as José Luís Carneiro (…) or MP André Ventura who, on August 9, posted pictures of himself on social media in shorts and a T-shirt,” he criticized.
For Hugo Soares, “the perception that the work being done should have is the result.” “The Government’s obligation is to govern, not to win the championship of affections,” he reiterated.
Asked whether this Government’s strategy could impact municipal elections, the PSD parliamentary leader disagreed, emphasizing that the “Portuguese know how to evaluate” the situation. Additionally, he stated that “the PSD’s goal in these elections is to win the municipal elections and regain the majority in the National Association of Municipalities.”
The Standing Committee of the Assembly of the Republic is set to debate the situation of the fires in Portugal on Wednesday, after the opposition unanimously criticized the Government and Montenegro expressed willingness to provide clarifications.
Opposition parties argued that the Executive did not prevent the situation in a timely manner, failed to activate the European Civil Protection Mechanism when necessary, and regretted that a state of calamity was not declared. They also criticized the Prime Minister for participating in the PSD’s rentrée on August 14, while fires were ongoing.
