“The PSD is currently entrenched in the logic and strategies of Chega. I even heard Hugo Soares today saying that ‘no means no’ hasn’t ended, which makes all Portuguese laugh when they see what’s happening,” stated Rui Tavares.
The Livre spokesperson was speaking to Lusa before an open meeting with citizens to discuss the state of the nation, at the Livre headquarters in Lisbon.
The Livre leader emphasized that the ‘no means no’ stance was a “moral promise” aimed at preventing Portuguese politics from being tainted by the low-level politics that Chega was bringing to Portugal, explaining that the Social Democrats were supposed to act as a “dam” against the policies of André Ventura’s party.
“On this, the PSD is not only failing but is promoting the takeover of our political environment by the attitudes of Chega. From this point of view, there is clearly a post-electoral coalition, with a resounding ‘get used to it’ from [Hugo] Soares in parliament, between Chega and PSD,” added the Livre spokesperson.
According to Rui Tavares, Chega and the PSD maintain a relationship where the Social Democrats are the “junior partner,” since “Andre Ventura sets the agenda” and not Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
The PSD parliamentary leader rejected today that the party’s commitment to saying “no means no” to Chega has fallen in recent weeks, defending that this only applied to pre-electoral coalitions or formal agreements after elections.
In his opening remarks at the PSD/CDS-PP parliamentary days in Évora, Hugo Soares lamented hearing in recent days some commentators accuse him of being “the gravedigger of ‘no means no'” after parliamentary negotiations with Chega, especially concerning immigration laws.
Regarding the request by Livre to the parliamentary committee on Transparency and Deputies Statute to express an opinion on Chega deputies’ statements about immigrant children, Rui Tavares expressed hope that these deputies “will be held responsible” and stated that the complaint aims to document that “not all parties” found such interventions normal.
When asked if he expects a greater debate on new sanctions for parliamentary interventions, the Livre leader said he finds this discussion “completely normal,” recalling the rules, for example, of the European Parliament, but considered that the current configuration of the Assembly of the Republic does not allow for these changes.
Rui Tavares reiterated his criticism of Hugo Soares, claiming that the Social Democrat “edited a video” to “give the impression” that the Livre leader supports house occupiers, at a time when he was noting that “property rights are in the European Convention on Human Rights.”
Regarding the dialogue between the PS and the Government on defense matters, Rui Tavares stated that the executive talks to the socialists “as a formality and schedule commitment,” adding that the party is “very proud not to be invited to these conversations” as they are not conducted in “good faith.”
