The protest vote was decisive in Faro, not only for the big drop in the overall number of votes for both the PSD and PS winners, but also for the exponential rise of the CDU. PS and CDU candidates to Faro, who were, respectively, the second and third most voted for mayor, agree in their analysis of the behavior of the electorate, punishing for socialists, but very good for communists.
Paulo Neves does not hide that he was disappointed with the result, but stated that he will assume the position of councilor for which he was elected. "I have always said that, regardless of the result, I would assume the position and I will fulfill it", he told the Sul Informação. In the professional field, he will remain connected to the Hospitais Privados de Portugal group.
Sunday's results were penalizing for the PS candidacy, which again lost the autarchy by a relatively short margin of votes, despite having won the race in the Municipal Assembly and having elected one more deputy than the PSD (two more, having in counts the victory in two of the four parish councils, against one of the PSD and the other of the CDU) .
In the end, in the election for the Chamber, the difference between the winner Rogério Bacalhau and Paulo Neves did not exceed 400 votes, a difference that, however, is greater than that achieved by Macário Correia four years ago.
“What is important to retain in this scrutiny is the protest vote. There was a large abstention (about 10 percent fewer voters voted in 2013) and we were unable to mobilize the electorate to go to the polls. We have to be careful with the policy we are making at all times», he said.
Highlighting the great rise of the CDU, he considered that it can be seen as a sign of some discontent among the population, after years of alternating between PSD and PS. Something that is reflected in the strong decrease in the global number of votes of the two main parties, which dropped from values in the order of 13 thousand votes each, in 2009, to values around 8 thousand, last Sunday.
This decrease meant that the PS, despite being defeated, has the same number of councilors as the PSD, four in total. The ninth councilor will be António Mendonça, who can be seen as another of the winners of the election night, in Faro.
«From the point of view of the goals we assumed, they were all achieved. We kept the presidency of the Junta de Santa Bárbara de Nexe, we had more votes and more elected representatives, we have representatives in all bodies and we got a seat in the council», described António Mendonça.
CDU will be there «to see» when there is PSD and PS union in the Chamber
The CDU's head-of-list to the Chamber of Faro, future councilor, admits that he may, many times, be decisive in the approval or lead, of the executive's proposals without an absolute majority. “That will happen in some cases, but if you put PSD and PS together, it's eight to one. The difference is that, now, we are going to be there to see and report it», he said.
Basically, with this division and an executive with three political forces, “it is the municipal administration that is winning”, he considered.
António Mendonça also speaks of a protest vote. «Faro there has been an alternation of two parties, without any changes in the policies followed. There is a central bloc of interests that benefits more or less from one or another political force in power," he accused.
«We are satisfied and excited», summed up António Mendonça, who also highlighted the national results of the CDU, which becomes «the third force at the national level» and, of course, «the recovery of the City Council of Silves».
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