There are still two years to go, but there is little doubt that former Health Minister Marta Temido will be the PS candidate for the Lisbon City Council.
Self – elected leader of the party’s Municipal Political Commission in Lisbon since July – no longer hides that she is interested in this. And yesterday, in a conversation with DN, the leader of the party’s district structure, Duarte Cordeiro – who is also Minister of the Environment – blessed the candidacy, as Marta Temido is “an excellent option”.
“From the experience with Marta Temido [no Governo]closer during the pandemic, and having been mayor myself, I believe he will make a good mayor.”
The former minister, interviewed in Expresso on Friday, admitted that she “would like to become mayor”: “The daily driving force of people’s lives is in fact a dimension that attracts.”
And when asked about her availability to lead a bid for Lisbon, she replied: “If this is important for Lisbon and for the people of Lisbon, then yes, I will be clearly present and I will discuss the difficulties and the don’t turn your back on problems. the struggle for a project.”
“Having a Council President with the experience she has, a very high level of prominence and recognition, as well as the sense of gratitude on the part of so many citizens, makes her an excellent option. And the first way is indeed: as Marta Feared says, build an alternative and show availability.”
“I really enjoyed the interview,” commented DN Duarte Cordeiro. “From the experience with Marta Temido [no Governo]closer during the pandemic, and having been mayor myself, I believe he will make a good mayor.”
And more: ”About your availability, and since I am president of FAUL [Federação da Área Urbana de Lisboa] of the PS I can only be satisfied.” In other words: “Having a Council President with the experience she has, a very high level of fame and recognition, as well as the sense of gratitude on the part of so many citizens, makes her an excellent option. And the first way, as Marta Temido says, is to build an alternative and show its availability.”
Remember that Cordeiro was vice president of the Lisbon City Council (when the president was António Costa) and with this statement, endorsing the candidacy of Marta Temido, he puts himself out of a race that was speculated to be competitive.
United left in Lisbon?
In the interview with Expresso, Marta Temido – who achieved enormous public fame in her role as Minister of Health (from October 2018 to September 2022) – also states, albeit cautiously, that she is in favor of the PS getting involved in an alliance of the left in the next municipal candidacy for Lisbon (possibly modeled on the candidacy led by Jorge Sampaio together with the PCP and other forces in 1989).
“It is still premature, as the various left parties have said, to think about what the possible scenario will be in two years’ time. It’s one thing to talk about the possible scenario, and another to talk about the desirable scenario. The people of Lisbon and Lisbon won when the left knew how to come together and how to build together”, he declared – but not without at the same time emphasizing the importance that this final coalition has in common “a vision of the city”, more than a “power project”.
Ten-year project
At the same time, he ensures that his role as leader of the Lisbon Municipal Political Commission is to develop a project for the capital, but for ten years and not just on the “horizon of a political cycle”.
“We will begin in November a process of social consultation, of public participation in building global public policy. Politicians often take to the streets to ask for people’s trust at the time of elections, but have some difficulty involving them when building solutions relies on technical decisions. But people want to participate and discuss with engineers and there are aspects that need to be combined because if they don’t, people won’t adhere to it. The aim is that what comes out of this public discussion from this forum can be made available to the teams who will then have the responsibility to present themselves to the voters of Lisbon,” the former minister said in the interview.
On the right, the expectation is a re-candidacy for Carlos Moedas (PSD). However, he himself has not yet confirmed this, and he may be available to run for party leadership if the issue eventually arises. The 2024 European elections could be decisive in this regard.
Source: DN
