“What will decide which direction the dialogue takes are the votes for the BE, whether or not BE deputies are elected. We already understand that there is no absolute majority, that agreements between parties are necessary, and people can choose by voting for the party, the proposals, with their heart, with their will, they can choose what they want the day after the elections,” argued Mariana Mortágua.
The BE leader spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a campaign initiative in Guimarães, district of Braga, the seat led in these anticipated legislative elections by founder and former deputy Francisco Louçã.
Asked about the statements by the President of the Republic who, on Thursday, stated that he wants to appoint a government with the certainty that its program will be approved in parliament, Mortágua argued that Marcelo’s words are proof that what is at stake in these elections is not who has one more vote, it’s not who comes first, considering that “there will not be an absolute majority.”
“What the President of the Republic says is that the strategic voting makes no sense. Strategic voting is voting for the proposals we want to see in the Assembly of the Republic the day after the elections. What the President says is this: it doesn’t matter who comes first, what is most important is having deputies who can approve and present proposals to govern the country. And this is stability, this is governability,” she argued.
The leader was also questioned about the words of the PSD leader who dramatically appealed for the mobilization of everyone who wants stability so that it doesn’t happen like ten years ago, and some voters “wake up with a different government from the one they wanted,” a reference to the ‘geringonça’ parliamentary solution, of which the BE was part.
“I think everyone remembers well that it was that government and the BE’s result at that time that allowed people to recover their salary and pension. Pensioners have insisted on reminding Luís Montenegro throughout this campaign that they remember who cut their pension and they also remember who fought for it. At that time, the PS wanted to freeze, the PSD wanted to cut, and it was the election of BE deputies that managed to prevent this,” she recalled.
The BE wants “to show the country that it can be governed better,” and for that, it is enough to know whose side you’re on.
“It’s enough to know that we are on the side of those who can’t get a house, of those who have difficulty making ends meet, of the people who have such low pensions and find it so difficult to live. And if we know which side we are on, there are no surprises,” she concluded.
Regarding the fact that Pedro Nuno Santos today assured that the President of the Republic can be at ease, given that a government led by the PS will be one of dialogue and stability, expressing openness for “dialogue between all political forces,” Mortágua also left a message.
“If there are votes for the BE and BE deputies, Pedro Nuno Santos will not meet with the PSD,” she predicted.
