President calls for “dignified debate” in upcoming electoral campaign

Portugal’s president has called for “a dignified and elevated debate” in the campaign for the upcoming snap legislative election in order to strengthen democracy, warning that it would be “an unforgivable waste” not to discuss the country’s problems.

In an address to the nation on Thursday night from the Sala das Bicas in the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon, in which he announced the third dissolution of parliament since he began serving as president, and the calling of early elections for 18 May, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that it was “inevitable” that the issue that gave rise to the political crisis – the prime minister’s assets and professional activities – would occupy part of the electoral debate, “particularly in the first few weeks” of it.

“A debate that can and must weigh up, and weigh up well, the signs and risks for democracy of confrontational situations in which there can be no consensus, even a partial one, because it leads down personal and ethical alleyways that have no way out other than the elections,” he warned.

At the same time, he argued, “it would be an unforgivable waste not to discuss what is of such concern to the Portuguese people in their day-to-day lives now and in the foreseeable future.

“There must be an electoral debate,” he stressed. “Clear, frontal, enlightening, but serene. Dignified, elevated, tolerant, respectful of difference and pluralism.”

The head of state warned against the risk that another type of discussion could weaken democracy and open the door “even wider to experiments that you know how they start and you know how they end” – in an apparent reference to populism.

“This is the call for everyone and, I believe, for all the Portuguese,” he said. “A debate that gives strength to those who will represent us in the Assembly of the Republic. That gives strength to those who will govern us. That gives the Portuguese the strength to control their representatives and their rulers.”

In his 10-minute address, he warned that only democracy has the “capacity to face and overcome crises,” unlike dictatorships.

De Sousa also promised to ensure that the current government, now in a caretaker role, has the conditions to ensure that “the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan [for spending European Union post-pandemic funds] is not stopped.”

“Without trampling on the electoral rules, of course, what is the objective?” he went on. “To allow a transition, if possible, as peaceful as that experienced in 2024. Only now in two and a half months and not in five as it was then.”