Former PSD president Luís Marques Mendes admitted a presidential candidacy this Sunday “if there is benefit to the country” and “a minimum of conditions to move forward”and currently rejects any decision or agreement with the Social Democratic leader.
In his television commentary on SIC, Mendes was asked about the political significance of his presence at the Festa do Pontal, the Rental of the PSD in mid-August in the Algarve, and whether this would be related to a possible agreement for Luís Montenegro to support his candidacy for Belém.
“Never in my life have I discussed presidential elections with Luís Montenegro. There is nothing to talk about, there is no agreement,” Marques Mendes assured, saying that at the moment there is “no decision, not even an inclination”.
However, the former president of the PSD wanted to add the conditions for whether or not to make that decision in the future.
“If one day I think that with a candidacy for President of the Republic I can be useful to the country – that is what counts – if I see that my candidacy and a minimum of conditions for its realization are of some use for the country, I’m honest, I’ll make that decisionregardless of whether or not it agrees,” he said.
The former parliament speaker emphasized that it is “a free, personal and individual decision”.
“I insist: if there is a benefit to the country and there are minimum conditions, if these requirements are not met, there will be no decision and everything will be fine,” he said, noting that “it is a very tough decision is,” and stressed that there is “an eternity” left before the January 2026 presidential election.
Luís Marques Mendes, 65 years old, is a lawyer and television commentator, was Deputy Minister of Cavaco Silva and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the government of Durão Barroso.
He was elected president of the PSD in April 2005, re-elected in the direct elections he introduced to the party in 2006 and succeeded in 2007 by Luís Filipe Menezes.
Source: DN
