In Portugal, conservatives support socialists to stop ultra-rightists

Traditional names from the conservative camp in Portugal decided to support the socialist António José Seguro (PS) for the second round of the presidential election, which takes place on February 8, forming a broad front against the ultra-rightist André Ventura, from the Chega party.

The most recent strong support came from former president Aníbal Cavaco Silva, of the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), announced this Monday (26). For the same party, the mayors of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, and Porto, Pedro Duarte, also declared their preference for Seguro.

PSD candidate supported by CDS-PP, a Christian democratic and conservative party, Luís Marques Mendes initially said that he would not endorse any of the names. But, last week, he revised his decision, declaring that the socialist was “the only candidate” who comes close to values ​​such as “defending democracy and guaranteeing space for moderation”, in addition to “respect for the purpose of representing all Portuguese”.

Other important names in Portuguese politics declared their support for the socialist, including Miguel Poiares Maduro (PSD), former minister of Regional Development in Portugal; the former deputy and social democratic leader José Pacheco Pereira and the lawyer José Miguel Júdice, the centerpiece of João Cotrim de Figueiredo’s candidacy (Liberal Initiative, IL).

The regional secretary of Economy of the Government of Madeira, José Manuel Rodrigues, as well as the social democrat António Tavares, among others, also declared their support for the socialist.

Left-wing parties and competitors, such as Catarina Martins, Jorge Pinto and António Filipe — candidates supported respectively by the Bloco de Esquerda, Livre and Partido Comunista — had already publicly announced their support for Seguro.

Open letter for Insurance

On Saturday (24), around 250 non-socialist political leaders launched an open letter in support of Seguro. The text says that the far-right candidate, André Ventura, “has presented this vote as a confrontation between the left-wing bloc and the right-wing bloc, which he described as the ‘non-socialist’ camp. As all the signatories belong to the non-socialist camp, we understand that André Ventura does not represent us. We reject both the style and the substance, the manifest lack of sense of the State and the divisionism that the candidate announces by saying right away that he does not intend to be the President of all Portuguese”.

On the other hand, he points out that Seguro, “avoided factionalism or offense in the campaign, and has a political path of moderation, honesty and dignity. Therefore, the signatories, although non-socialists, vote and call for a vote for António José Seguro. We certainly have ideological disagreements, but we know that António José Seguro will not attack democratic and humanist values, nor the rights, freedoms and guarantees of citizens”.

This is the first time since 1986 that Portugal will have a second round in an election for president. The country is governed by the semi-presidential system, in which the president is the head of the state, and the prime minister is the head of government.

The first round took place on January 18th and ended with Seguro in the lead, with 31% of the votes, followed by Ventura, with 23.5%. The second round takes place on February 8th.

With agencies