“If Pedro Passos Coelho returns to active politics, it will always be a source of satisfaction for the PSD and for me in particular.”
The words were spoken by Luís Montenegro, President of the PSD, this Wednesday during a visit to the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL), which takes place at FIL. Days earlier, Passos Coelho attended a dinner at Grémio Literário, in Lisbon, which served to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Senate (a conservative political training academy), which included the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. According to Emphatically, in his speech, Passos Coelho pointed to the lack of a project for the country and assumed to have a “political horizon”. According to the same newspaper the president noted that “it is worth noting” the day when Passos “defined his political and personal life by talking about the future”.
This Wednesday, and Luís Montenegro assured that he “cannot read what goes on in the mind of Pedro Passos Coelho”, Luís Montenegro stressed – as he had done on other occasions – that he considers the former prime minister “an extraordinary asset to the country”. that it should not be wasted “under any circumstances: in your academic life, whether you represent Portugal, or in active politics”.
Since leaving the leadership of the PSD (in February 2018), Passos Coelho has practically stayed out of the political spotlight until the last Festa do Pontal, in August 2022, when he appeared alongside the party president in what was already the first Social Democrat comeback with Montenegro at the helm. On that occasion, he said he was a “special” presence and closed the door to go to other events. Despite this statement, it is certain that Passos Coelho has appeared in public more often than before.
At BTL, Montenegro showed confidence in the future and without fear of a possible return of Passos Coelho under penalty of overshadowing his leadership. Does this mean the two are talking? “Yes, we have spoken occasionally.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was also at the same fair, eventually crossing paths with Luís Montenegro (whom he assumed he spoke to often) despite arriving at different times. Faced with the statements he made Monday at the Senate dinner, the president of the republic clarified: “I limited myself to attending a session in which the former prime minister and former leader of the PSD spoke about his political future”, insisting afterwards that “it is the person who decides on the possibility, if, when, if”. Still doubting that Passos would be a better PSD leader than Montenegro, he declined to comment: “I am not commenting on these issues”.
Source: DN
