The PSD president said he was against the legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes, during a dinner with young people, admitting that he had already refused an appeal to the president of the republic, without disclosing the circumstances.
As part of the ‘Sentir Portugal’ initiative, dedicated this week to the Lisbon district, Luís Montenegro had dinner with young people from JSD and educational institutions at a riverside restaurant in the capital on Thursday evening.
The dinner took place in a format inspired by the model of speed dating (“SpeedDating”), with the president of the PSD sharing the meal among the six tables of young people.
He ended up answering questions for about an hour, some of them in a yes or no answer format — Montenegro only had to lift the poster on the green or red side and add a short explanation — asking him, for example, if they agreed to the legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes, on the day the Liberal Initiative introduced a bill to parliament to that effect.
“No, I disagree. I understand the discussion, but I am convinced and also from studies and researches, according to which consent in this domain can be an open door for the creation of additions and frameworks for overuse. of these substances that lead to health problems”, replied, with the exception of agreeing to use it “for medicinal purposes”.
And when asked “as a joke” whether he “ever refused a call from the President of the Republic,” Montenegro raised the green card and replied: “Yes, I wanted to say under what circumstances, but I do not say”, he said to loud laughter from those present.
“I’m waiting to be elected prime minister,” replied Vasco Neves Garcia, the leader of the JSD’s Lisbon council, responsible for the quick questions.
At this stage of answering yes or no, Montenegro guaranteed that he had never voted for any party other than the PSD, and admitted not knowing whether he would have ended up in politics had he been a woman — “I admit that it would be harder” — and agreed that the PSD needs to “reinvent and regenerate” in terms of communication, saying this effort is already being made.
Young people also found out that at the age of 28, Montenegro left his parents’ house and until “ten or eleven”, he still believed that he could make a career as a footballer.
“And have you ever wanted to give someone a shin? Of course, and I’ve already given a few,” he confessed.
In the longest questions and answers phase, Montenegro spoke about social security, a sector in which he admitted it was difficult to “sit down to the table with the PS” to discuss the subject, which he says has become the subject “of much demagoguery and electoral tactics”.
“But I also want to say clearly that it is not an issue that we are going to put on the agenda. More important is to guarantee that we have human resources to create wealth and feed the social security system,” he said, reiterating the importance of attracting of migrant workers.
In the field of the political system, he considered it necessary to balance the criterion of population density with that of the size of the territory and returned to defend the idea of evaluating the development of a country by the so-called happiness table of contents.
“I am in favor that we should not judge the effect of government policies solely for the ability to generate economic wealth,” he reflected.
The ‘Sentir Portugal’ initiative was a commitment made by Luís Montenegro at the 40th PSD Congress to spend one week a month in the different districts of the country, ending today in the District of Lisbon with visits to the municipalities of Sintra and Mafra.
Source: DN
