On Saturday evening, Pedro Nuno Santos was elected general secretary of the PS. On Sunday he met António Costa at the PS headquarters in Largo do Rato and then spent the rest of the day with his family – meaning he spent time on the phone with comrades discussing the party’s future.
Yesterday morning he spent some time on the phone again and then headed to Porto where he had a private lunch. The conversation went a little beyond the agreed time and that is why he arrived 40 minutes late for the only public moment on the agenda of his first working day as Secretary General of the PS: a visit to the CP workshops in Guifões, Matosinhos. After António Costa demonstrated his legacy in recent weeks, it is now the turn of the new PS leader to show that he is doing the same (read the text on page 4). And to begin unfolding the argument that will be repeated over and over again for the next 83 days, until the March 10 election.
“This attitude towards governance, which is to do and achieve, is one of our great characteristics: the country cannot be systematically left behind, it must move forward and we have the ability to move the country forward and the railway is there one of.” of those signs.”
Guifões served as a metaphor: ‘This attitude towards governance, namely doing and achieving, is one of our great characteristics: the country cannot systematically lag behind, it must move forward and we have the ability to move the country forward. and the railway is one of those signs,” said the new Secretary General of the PS. Or, in other words: “It is very important for us to show the country that it is possible to do things, that it is possible to move forward and we are here in a space that proves that (.. .), we have the experience, we have the managerial experience to do it, the ability to do it and this factory shows that well.”
“I am not talking about absolute majorities. What is really important is that we run a good campaign and manage to mobilize the Portuguese people to achieve the best possible result, which will allow the PS to implement its election manifesto more accurately.”
Upon arrival in Guifões, Pedro Nuno Santos waited for CP management staff, workshop staff and local PS mayors, such as Luísa Salgueiro, president of the Chamber of Matosinhos and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities.
And journalists of course. In response to the first question, he was already campaigning: ‘What is important is that the PS wins a big victory on March 10, which exempts Chega from participating in any government and allows the country to move forward. are working.”
“To be honest, I have seen the speeches of various right-wing parties. The language used is very extreme language. In fact, there is little distinction between the language of the PSD leader and that of the Chega leader.”
At the same time, he lowered expectations and distanced himself from the bad image that the PS gave in the last election results: ‘I am not talking about absolute majorities, what is really important is that we run a good campaign and succeed in winning The Portuguese people must achieve the best possible result, which will allow the PS to implement its election manifesto more accurately.”
And he vehemently attacked the PSD, pitting Luís Montenegro against André Ventura: “To be honest, I have seen the speeches of several right-wing parties, the language used is a very extreme language, in fact very close, there is little distinction between the language of the leader of the PSD to the leader of Chega”.
What is therefore important to him “is a victory that allows the PS to lead a government with stability, that is what we will work for, present our election manifesto, discuss it with the Portuguese and try to mobilize the Portuguese people to achieve a victory that will PS guarantees sufficient weight to lead a stable government solution”.
Between leaving Lisbon and going to Porto, then to Matosinhos, returning to Porto and then returning to Lisbon, Pedro Nuno Santos covered approximately 650 kilometers. Today he will have a quieter day: the only step on his public agenda will be the dinner for PS deputies in Lisbon.
Source: DN
