A candidacy for the European Championship is possible, but depends on the conditions of the invitation – if one formally exists. So the door is not completely closed. And it is Rui Moreira himself who takes over.
Rui Moreira has been head of the Porto Chamber since 2013 and has always been elected as an independent. In 2021 it was supported by the Liberal Initiative (IL) and the CDS-PP. But in recent weeks, a third variable has emerged into the equation: the PSD. A week ago, it was even the Social Democratic leader himself, Luís Montenegro, who assumed that Rui Moreira “in the abstract” meets a set of criteria that the PSD outlined to invite “independent people” to appear on the party’s election lists to appear. from 2024.
Next Thursday at Public and Renascença, the mayor of Invicta, would not reveal whether he would ultimately accept to be a candidate. Especially because that would mean giving up autarchy, something that “makes no sense from the start.” But what if the invitation comes? “It’s a bit like asking if I can become Sinterklaas. That doesn’t happen. It’s not something that can be asked. If there is an invitation to do something like that, I will have to think at that moment, I will have to think about the conditions. Now I also tell you that it is not likely. Why? Because there is such a thing as a calendar. The calendar, as you have already understood, is not a viable calendar with such an option,” said Rui Moreira, who is serving his third and final term in the municipality (ends in 2025).
A PSD source declined to comment against DN, referring to Luís Montenegro’s statements last week.
But how is this ‘courtship’ seen from the perspective of IL and CDS-PP, who supported Rui Moreira in the 2021 municipal elections? Nuno Melo was questioned by DN and also declined to comment directly. The centrist president – and the party’s only deputy in the European Parliament – said that, as far as he knows, a possible candidacy of Rui Moreira “is not even a hypothesis”. After all, he said that the mayor “would never get any further without the CDS”. AND “the PSD goes to the elections alone. I do not know if [Rui Moreira] is it even a hypothesisYet the strategy of Nuno Melo’s party remains secret for the time being.
DN also contacted IL, but they did not respond in time.
‘Any party would win’
From a different perspective of analysis, Paula do Espírito Santo, political scientist and researcher at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas (ISCSP), sees Rui Moreira’s eventual candidacy for the EP as something relatively natural.
‘He is someone with political capital. In this specific case, evidence was presented to the Porto City Council. Whichever side you choose, you always win. Rui Moreira is someone who enjoys fame in his own right. It will always be his option, but every party would benefit from having Rui Moreira’s name on the lists,” the researcher said.
Adelino Maltez highlights another factor: the fact that Rui Moreira is independent in party terms. “You can run for whoever you want, deep down. And besides: is someone who already has a certain presence averagesomething that always helps,” says the political scientist and university professor.
However, a possible rise of Rui Moreira could determine the party’s strategy, especially in the case of IL and CDS. After all, says Adelino Maltez, the mayor”has a rare profile, he is a convinced liberal, who is starting to get the conditions to move forward”. On the other hand, Paula do Espírito Santo states that “the CDS will be put to the test, while IL wants to assert itself in the parliamentary elections. Both Nuno Melo and another candidate, such as Cotrim Figueiredo (IL), are strong. But are both betting on Rui Moreira? It could be bad for both parties for a number of reasons.”
Source: DN
