Liberal Initiative leadership candidate José Cardoso defended this Saturday that the party needs a “full-time president” who is not a deputy, saying he wanted to create a “government party” and elect it in the next three elections.
Presenting his strategic motion in Lisbon, José Cardoso defended that “what has failed in recent years is that it is impossible to do a good job in the Assembly of the Republic and a good job in the party”, referring to the fact that the current president, João Cotrim Figueiredo, is a deputy, as are his two opponents in the leadership dispute, Carla Castro and Rui Rocha.
“What is really needed is a full-time chairman of the party, because there is a political project to build on, because the IL is still – we all know – a new project. Distance from the Assembly of the Republic,” defended he.
In this speech, José Cardoso, IL’s national adviser, presented himself as the leader of “the only wave of reflection on liberal principles and practices” in the party.
“The only person, in the last three years, who has tried to take a path, right or wrong, other than the one we’ve followed, has been me,” he said.
The candidate stressed that over the past three years he had raised issues “such as decentralization within the party”, “IL salary and endowment transparency” or “proximity liberalism”, accusing his opponents of voting “against” during that period. al” these proposals and now present identical measures.
“How was it possible for us to arrive at an election time like this and not have anyone to defend the ideas we’ve been thinking about? I also see some of these ideas appearing in other candidacies now… Well, between the copy and the original, I am the original of these ideas,” he defended.
Among the proposals he presents to the party in his global strategy motion – entitled “A party and a country without fear for the freedom of others” – José Cardoso proposes to create a “proximity liberalism”.
The candidate said this closeness is not about being “populist” or “popular” – in an allusion to João Cotrim Figueiredo, who justified his departure from the leadership because the party needed to be “more belligerent” and “popular” – but “understand what people need and can respond to.”
“I defend that IL should be a government party and not a protest party. To be a government party, it should provide answers to people’s problems and not sell them unrealistic dreams or populism,” he stressed.
To this end, in terms of electoral objectives, the candidate will already be represented in the regional elections in Madeira, later this year, and in the European and regional elections in the Azores, both in 2024.
Asked by journalists if he believes alliances with Chega are a “red line” for IL to become that ruling party, José Cardoso said he dislikes “banning voters from other parties” but rejected any understanding with the party he led. by André Ventura for ideological reasons.
“IL bases its idea on facts and science, not populism. So how are you going to rule with Chega? We defend people’s individual freedom, Chega exile certain groups of people. (…) There is a sea, an ocean, between the way the two parties conduct politics,” he said.
In his motion, José Cardoso implicitly criticizes the leadership of João Cotrim Figueiredo, indicating that the IL must be “a party that focuses on the citizens and not on the PS, as it has been until now” and that it must focus “on the members and not on the Executive Committee, as hitherto”.
José Cardoso specifically pledges to review “the political program” of the IL and to create an annual liberal forum, with annual frequency, to bring together the “new ideas” that the members of the IL have and to promote them abroad. to show.
“The world would see us differently, it could join us and realize that we are not ‘cupcakes,’ nor rich kids who want to lower taxes, give people the opportunity to think about liberal politics,” he referred. .
In the list of names he proposes to the party’s executive committee, only João Pereira – proposed for the vice presidency – has a seat in a national body of the IL (National Council), next to José Cardoso, who is also a national member. councillor.
Source: DN
