The chairman of the CDS-PP this Friday regarded his first year as leader as “resistance” and defended that the party is “far from gone”, aiming for a reversal of the cycle and better results in the next election. “The balance I can make is that of a party that is resisting and working now to reverse a cycle and grow in future elections”said Nuno Melo to the Lusa Bureau on the day he heads the party for a year.
Nuno Melo was elected chairman of the CDS-PP (for a two-year term) on March 3 last year, during the party’s 29th National Congress, after the National Political Commission received 74.93% of the votes of the deputies obtained. The centrist leader succeeded Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, who resigned on the night of the last parliamentary election after the CDS-PP failed to elect deputies to the Assembly of the Republic for the first time in history. The MEP thought it was “obvious that there is one before and one after 30 January 2022”.
“The CDS lost the parliamentary group. After losing the parliamentary group, it lost much of its funding and much of its media attention, and these are relevant aspects in doing politics”, admittedly. Nevertheless, Nuno Melo stressed that “the CDS continues to exist as a party with highly relevant political representation in the local authorities, where it alone governs six chambers, more than 40 in coalition with the PSD, in the regional governments of the Azores and Madeira. , which participates in the executive branch and in the European Parliament”.
The leader of the CDS stressed that “the party is far from gone, on the contrary”. The centrist leader believed that there was “great motivation and mobilization of local structures” and that across the country “the rooms are filled and the spirit of the people of the CDS is to bring the brightness and strength of other times to the party to bring “.
Melo admitted that “this has been a year of resistance” and that he is “aware that this path will necessarily be slow”, but defended that “at the same time, the CDS has also managed to stay ahead in many years in the political debate. areas” and succeeded in “bringing topics relevant to the political agenda”.
The centrist president considered “an anecdote” and “nonsense” polls that do not indicate any intention to vote for the CDS-PP. “The big CDS poll almost always happened at the polls,” he indicated, noting that “normally, with few exceptions, the CDS always outperformed much better at the polls than in the polls.” “We should not completely devalue the polls, we should be alert to trends, but above all we should motivate people to think about the elections”he added.
Regarding the number of militants, Nuno Melo stated that “despite our circumstances, the CDS has managed to keep most of the militants and on the other hand new ties have been formed”. This week the party announced that about a hundred militants who left the party to join others such as Chega will rejoin the CDS.
Faced with financial difficulties as a result of not being able to choose a deputy, the party mandated the payment of dues and fired several national headquarters officials. The CDS-PP will also prepare a new programme, which will be presented to constituencies for consideration at a “refounding conference” later this year.
Source: DN
