She is 31 years old and when she returned to parliamentary work, she became a deputy of the PSD for the third time since the beginning of the legislature (in 2022).
First he replaced Andreia Neto, who left on maternity leave, and then he replaced Joaquim Pinto Moreira (first in March and then in September), former mayor of Espinho and defendant in Operation Vórtex. “I have always loved debating, reflecting and learning about politics,” says Rosina Ribeiro Pereira. “I got on the ballot at the age of 29, in a place where I hoped to be elected, but then it didn’t happen and I’m not going to hide my disappointment,” she explains. During the last parliamentary term, the PSD elected fourteen deputies for Porto; Rosina was the sixteenth name on the list. She would have been elected in 2019. “I was not disappointed or disappointed for myself, but for the party and the fact that Rui Rio did not win those elections,” she says. He also admits that he has always supported the former Social Democratic leader (“He was always my reference within the party”). With the election results and her non-election, Rosina deviates “a little” from politics.
But everything changed with the substitutions on the orange bench. How did it feel? “A person is naturally full of expectations. Like: ‘what will or won’t happen?’. There is a certain uncertainty, I’m not going to lie.” Why? “Normally it’s something that isn’t talked about. But we are here and I think everyone here wants to do their best. It is a responsibility that many have not had before. And this weight is amazing, at least for me. When you come in the middle of a semester, you arrive here and you belong, you don’t know exactly where… It’s not easy. As a person I feel exactly the same. I am aware that I am here in Parliament today, but I know that this may be the first and the last time.”
At the age of 18, Rosina Ribeiro Pereira joined the JSD. In 2011, he founded the Nonpartisan Political Academy, a space for debate with young people of different ideologies.
Despite being a newcomer to parliamentary work, politics entered Rosina Ribeiro Pereira’s life early. The first contact even took place in a family context, through the grandfather on my mother’s side. “I was a member of the CDS, quite active. So from an early age I was used to listening to the news and reading newspapers, for example,” he says. And the ‘little insect’ remained. At the age of 18 he joined the Social Democratic Youth (JSD).
The current congresswoman then founded the Nonpartisan Political Academy (APA) in 2011. The idea arose in the university context, when I was studying economics at the University of Porto. “In my freshman year, I was in Microeconomics I class and I remember the professor saying that when the course lasted five years, it allowed us to debate and think more. Then I thought about taking a “to form a political club with people of different ideologies, without any interest or compensation,” he says. The professor supported it and APA was born, which exists to this day.
‘There is a majority that is confused with absolute power’
The Social Democratic representative, an economist by training, belongs to the Budget and Finance Committee in parliament. She therefore criticizes the position of the PS – and therefore also that of the government – for not adopting the budget package presented by the PSD with measures to reduce taxes.
“There is an absolute majority that is currently confused with absolute power. This is worrying,” begins Rosina Ribeiro Pereira. “It doesn’t seem like there is an attitude of listening and trying to reconcile things. It is clear that people have voted and it is necessary to respect this. but there is some confusion about the power that was given”, says the deputy.
According to the young deputy, this position of the PS “does not benefit the country in any way”, either due to the non-adoption of the tax package or in other areas, “as has also been seen in the Housing issue or even in the healthcare.” . “I think there should be a responsibility and a certain sense of state that would mean that an absolute majority would not be confused with ideological blindness, which is constantly felt,” he criticizes.
Rosina Ribeiro Pereira also remembers that “although there is a majority, there is a percentage of people who do not see themselves in it. The power and representation that other parties have, whether with one representative or with 77 seats, must be respected. We must listen to them. The almost absolutist position of the PS harms us all and ignores those who do not see themselves as part of the majority.”I don’t think there is any overlap between national and party interests at the moment, which more recent generations have seen. There have been no such concerns,” he concludes.
Source: DN
