He destroyed the socialist government, defended that António Costa was losing authority and proposed that he resign, contradicted Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s speech that there is no alternative to the current government and left the script to the PSD for the next win elections. Cavaco Silva is not usually gentle with the Socialist Executive, but yesterday he hit the nail on the head and left behind a devastating portrait, with direct access to the list of the most critical speeches of a former president of the republic: “I never thought it would ever be possible for a government to sink so low.”
A country run “in fits and starts” and in a “disastrous” manner by an executive where “competence is scarce but populism and hypocrisy abound” and whose actions have been guided by “mistakes, abuses of power, omissions, lies and violation of political ethics” – there was a long list of unflattering adjectives used by the former president of the republic to define current socialist power. Enthusiastically applauded for almost every sentence during the speech closing the 3rd National Meeting of Social Democratic Mayors (ASD), which took place yesterday in Lisbon, Cavaco Silva ran through the country’s political and economic situation with the same conclusion: socialist governance does not serve Portugal. In between, there was a message for António Costa, who “has lost his authority” and “does not exercise the powers that the Constitution confers on him”: “In principle, the legislature lasts until 2026, but sometimes, due to reflection on the situation in the country, or a revival of conscience, the prime ministers decide to resign and early elections are held. Here’s what happened happened in March 2011 [demissão de Sócrates]”.
Cavaco accused the socialist government of leading the country “on a path of impoverishment” and into a “situation of deep political degradation” – a “disastrous administration” – and stated that the “ideology of the PS can be summed up in a dozen words: stay in power and control the state apparatus without looking at the means”. The former head of state went through the economy, education, health care and the tax burden always with strong criticism of the government, which even increased in tone when he spoke about TAP. “I never thought it would be possible for a government to sink so low in terms of political ethics and disregard for national interests,” he said. fired and accused the Executive of standing out in only two areas: “lies” and “propaganda”. “For almost a month there was not a day when the government was not found to be lying,” he continued, insisting that the most important thing for the Socialist Executive is “to have a good propaganda center, with dozens of employees”, with the intention of ” to disinform, deceive, stupefy citizens”. Leaving the forecast that the government “of Dr. António Costa, despite benefiting from aid [europeus] in gargantuan sums, the next government will leave a very heavy legacy,” Cavaco left his preview of what the socialist executive will do in the future: “The tendency will be to pay out benefits and buy votes.”
Messages to Belém and a script for the PSD
But it was not just about the government that Cavaco Silva spoke: a relevant part of the speech was addressed to the PSD, with messages for Belém along the way. When Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recently said that the opposition is still not an alternative to the current government, the former Prime Minister and former President of the Republic made it clear that this is not his interpretation, arguing that not only the PSD is ready to take power , as the leader of the party, Luís Montenegro, has all the prerequisites to be prime minister. Sitting in the front row of the audience, the current Social Democratic president will have given up on the day he heard Cavaco say: “Dr Luís Montenegro has more experience than I had when I became Prime Minister and he is just as prepared, if not more, than I am”.
In addition, the PSD has “submitted proposals”, Cavaco Silva argued “the claim that the PSD has not presented an alternative policy” to that of the government is completely false. “The leadership of the PSD is less than a year old and has already put forward very well-structured proposals, in the social emergency, in the state budget, in education, in housing” – something that is “very rare” in an opposition party – with “much better quality than government policy in this area”. Focusing on housing, Cavaco accused the government of “undermining investor confidence” and of launching a “vigorous assault on municipal autonomy”.
Other than presenting proposals, he continued, is to proceed with an election manifesto: “This, as usual, should not be presented until shortly after the election act”. It was one of many pieces of advice left to current leaders by the former leader of the party, a kind of electoral “guideline” for the Social Democrats. Starting with a divisive question, the politics of alliances on the right: “I believe that the PSD should not make the mistake of announcing any coalition policy ahead of the next election”. “If the PS, which is in decline, doesn’t do it, why should the PSD do it?” Cavaco wondered, since this issue is “a trap orchestrated by the PS communications center”. The PSD “is the only credible option” to save power from the socialists, the “oligarchy that sees itself as the owner of the state,” the former head of state argued, adding that “the PSD and its leader work democratically and seriously to win the next election”. And for Cavaco there is not much left: “Eight to 9% of voters still have to be convinced.” “I don’t think it’s an impossible result to achieve,” he added, before leaving a message for the Social Democrats – this goal “requires unity work around the leader”.
Along the way, he left some other advice: the PSD “should not follow motions of censure filed by other parties, who are more concerned about news in the media”, given that “these motions [de censura] serving the interests of the socialist government”.
In the speech, Cavaco Silva also stressed that it is “fundamental to save the political debate in Portugal”, with “seriousness, substance, urbanity and respect for opponents”, and stressed that the other parties “are not enemies, they are opponents who must be respected” – “A style that the PSD must continue to follow”. It was the pretext to summon another former prime minister and party leader: “I hope our democracy does not witness the shameful and miserable attacks of the PS on Dr. Pedro Passos Coelho”.
Source: DN
