The Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, revealed that he had doubts about his chances of winning the 2021 municipal elections and admitted that “the most difficult moment” of his professional life was during the ‘troika’ period when he served as the Secretary of State in the XIX Constitutional Government.
These admissions were shared during an interview on SIC’s program ‘Alta Definição’.
“The most difficult moment for me was during the ‘troika’. Those are moments I don’t want to remember or even speak of much because they were very difficult,” Carlos Moedas recalled.
“We had to do it, and we had to turn the country around. And those were extremely difficult moments,” admitted the social-democrat, reflecting on his time as Secretary of State under Pedro Passos Coelho (2011-2014).
According to Carlos Moedas, his children “suffered because of it.” “‘Your father is the one doing this.’ People can be very harsh, sometimes, with children,” he noted.
Looking back at 2021, when he won Lisbon’s mayoralty with the ‘Novos Tempos’ coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança), it was a “shocking moment,” he admitted.
“Everything changes. I believed, but at a certain point that night, I no longer knew if I should believe or not because no one believed,” he stated. “The first feeling we have isn’t one of joy; it’s a feeling of responsibility. I remember well that I had a speech prepared in case I lost—which was a great speech—but didn’t have one prepared to win,” he confessed.
In the same interview, Carlos Moedas also shared that criticism “hurts” him and he dismisses any “vanity” in his office. “Even if that vanity happens, it ends when I step outside,” he said. “People have such a wrong idea of what the life of a mayor is today. The life of a mayor is tough, every day,” he asserted.
The social-democrat, a former European Commissioner, also emphasized that in today’s world, to “do politics seriously, you need to really enjoy it.” “The personal cost is too high,” he stressed.
It is noted that Carlos Moedas is originally from Beja and moved to Lisbon at 18 to study Civil Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico. He lived in Paris and also studied at Harvard Business School.
Moedas was elected Mayor of Lisbon in 2021, with 34.25% of the votes, taking the capital’s municipality from the PS, which was led by Fernando Medina. At the time of launching his candidacy, he stated that his “life project” was “to be the Mayor of Lisbon.”
Years on, with new municipal elections approaching, Carlos Moedas has not disclosed whether he will run again for Mayor of Lisbon.
