“The time for choosing caudillos or men who consider themselves providential is long gone and, as it is so unfortunate, it will not be missed”, stated Rui Moreira at the presentation session of the national representative of Marques Mendes’ candidacy. Protagonist of the event, Moreira presented a strongly political speech in which he warned of the risks of populism and personalism in the current Portuguese context, with indirect but unequivocal references to Henrique Gouveia e Melo and André Ventura.
In opposition, he praised Marques Mendes’ presidential project. He defined him as “moderate, plural and aggregator”, stressing that the former PSD leader represents “a candidacy that values democracy and the rule of law”, not demonizing politics or politicians: “rather, he recognizes their dedication to the common good”.
A candidacy that “does not ride the anti-system wave. It does not feed on social resentment, but rather proposes a better future for the Portuguese”, he added.
Rui Moreira made a point of drawing a line of separation between Marques Mendes’ speech and that of the candidates who, as he said, “abominate politics or have a sacristy’s view of it”.
“I’m always afraid of those who, wanting to be in politics, claim to be apolitical or anti-partisan.” Instead, he added, “Marques Mendes does not deny his long career as a government official, party leader and political commentator. We know who he is and how he thinks.”
Recalling that he had even considered his own candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic, he retreated “precisely because he was convinced that Marques Mendes’ presidential project covers a vast political and ideological spectrum”.
“In conversations we’ve had recently, I realized that you are leading a broadband project. A candidacy that meets the different concerns, interests and expectations of the Portuguese. A candidacy that does not subtract or exclude, considering all citizens equally”, he said.
Throughout the speech, he also established historical parallels and warned of the risks of “political and experimental adventures”, evoking the 1976 presidential elections, which pitted “defenders of the young democratic Constitution against those who intended to subvert it”.
“Today, we have the advantage of living in an adult and civil democracy, attested by half a century of political pluralism. But we are witnessing the resurgence of radical and anti-systemic narratives, which we call populist, as a result of the inability of successive governments to respond to social unrest”, he observed.
For the national representative of Marques Mendes, these trends “threaten to destroy the balance of powers and distort the nature of the regime”, and could lead to a “perversion of the semi-presidential system” if candidates “with no idea or respect for the institutional filigree of the regime” reach Belém.
“We need a moderate and unifying President, cultured and sensible, attentive and sensitive. Who does not react on impulse or allow himself to be imprisoned by other people’s obsessions”, he defended.
Rui Moreira rejected that support for Marques Mendes’ candidacy is the result of political calculation or personal resentment:
“I did not accept this challenge to settle scores or be motivated by any revanchism. Politically, I have serious differences with other candidates and I am afraid of what they could, even if that is not their intention, mean for the democratic regime”, he stated, adding that he is with the candidate out of a “duty of conscience”.