The President of the Republic called for the exercise of the vote in the three electoral acts of 2019 and considered fundamental that there is good sense in these campaigns, warning that radicalisms, arrogance and impossible promises destroy democracy.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took up these positions on the risks of demagogy and populism in his traditional New Year message, in which he pointed out that the pre-electoral climate for the three elections that take place in 2019 (European, regional and legislative) “already started in 2018”.
“What I want to ask you today is simple but demanding.” Do not give up on a right that is yours, giving more power to others than you should have. Think of you, but also of your children and grandchildren. , look to tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and not only for today, “defended the head of state.
Still in an appeal against abstention, the President of the Republic encouraged the Portuguese to “debate everything, with freedom”, but without creating “unnecessary wounds and complicated to heal.” “Call the attention of those who want to see you elected for your rights and your political choices, by opinion, by manifestation, by strikes, but always respect others, those who disagree with you and those who may suffer the consequences of your means of fight, “he added,
In this context, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa later left a series of notices to all those who intend to run for the next European, regional and legislative elections in Madeira: “If you want to be candidates carefully analyze your past journey and make a commitment not to disappoint your voters. ”
“Think of how it took time and it was costly to set up a democracy and how easy it is to destroy it, with intolerable arrogance, impossible promises, unrealistic appeals, reckless radicalism, undesirable risks. fundamental, “said the head of state.
In his message, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also maintained that “common sense” and “ambition” are not incompatible in democracy and, in this sense, set goals for Portugal in the political, economic and social.
“We can and must have the ambition to ensure that our economy is not only prepared to face any crisis that comes to us, but also to approach the most dynamic in Europe, pursuing a path of convergence now resumed. to overcome the condemnation of one of every five Portuguese to poverty and the fatality of Portuguese terms at different rates, with very unequal horizons, “lamented the President of the Republic.
The head of state also assumed the country’s ambition to “give more credibility, transparency, truth” to its political institutions, making “confidence has more reasons to assert itself.”
“It is a meeting point between peoples, a stronger economy, a more just society, a more reliable political and politicians, and will be asking a lot of us all in 2019. No, it is not. is certainly capable of turning that decade-long effort into a mobilizing and consistent path for the future, “concluded the President of the Republic.
In his traditional New Year message addressed to the Portuguese, the President of the Republic referred with concern to the current international situation, considering that “these times remain difficult.”
“In a Europe that is poorer with the departure of the United Kingdom, it slows down in the economy, sees promises growing.” In a world that is lacking in law, peace, dialogue, justice, certainty is left over by force, conflict, inequalities, uncertainty. without democracy and without full respect for the dignity of the people. In Portugal, which has left the crisis, regained hope, but that needs to look further and further, “warns the head of state.
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “the answer to these times can only be one: values, principles and knowledge learned in almost nine hundred years of history, dignity of the person, of all people, starting in the most fragile, excluded, ignored.”
Still in defense of liberty, the right to difference, pluralism and the rule of law, the President of the Republic left the warning that “there is no dictatorship, even the most seductive, that replaces democracy, even the most imperfect.”
“Social justice, fighting poverty, correcting inequalities. There is no democracy that lasts where a few people concentrate as much as everyone else,” he added.
