The presence of former PSD president Pedro Passos Coelho at the AD rally in Faro Today marked the election campaign, which began with a debate on the radio between party leaders.
The second day of the campaign for the legislative elections on March 10 'heated up' during the afternoon, when the leader of the Democratic Alliance (AD), Luís Montenegro, announced, in a campaign action in Beja, the presence of Pedro Passos Coelho at the rally of coalition in Faro, tonight.
In the morning, during the debate on the radio, Luís Montenegro had responded with “we'll see soon” to the question of Pedro Passos Coelho's participation or not in the electoral campaign.
The debate on Antena 1, TSF, Renascença and Observador between seven leaders of parties with parliamentary seats – Chega's president, André Ventura, refused to participate -, the last of a marathon that began on February 05th, allowed the candidates to present solutions who defend the country in areas that, until now, had been outside the priority of their speeches, such as Defense policy and Portugal's position in the face of the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine.
The leaders agreed on reinforcing investment in the Armed Forces and their professionals, which, according to the majority, does not involve mandatory military service, with emphasis on increasing salaries and careers.
The parties also converged on the need to diversify Social Security funding sources, but differed on the form, ranging from revenue from motorways, tax on large fortunes, or privatization of CGD.
As for governance scenarios after March 10, the PSD president again failed to clarify whether, in the event of defeat, he would make a minority PS government viable and accused Pedro Nuno Santos of having “contradictory versions” about what he will do, while the PS secretary general once again criticized Montenegro for not clarifying its position.
Montenegro also did not respond when Rui Tavares challenged the right to say whether or not it would approve a motion to reject Chega's eventual left-wing government.
Still in the debate, PS and PSD expressed their availability for understanding regarding a reform in Justice, with Luís Montenegro giving a “more negative than positive” rating to the Attorney General of the Republic, Lucília Gago.
Chega's president, André Ventura, attended a lunch/rally in Aveiro - the second of more than two dozen that are planned until the end of the campaign -, where he committed to recovering teachers' service time for four years, in order to phased.
BE coordinator, Mariana Mortágua, joined the Teleperformance workers' protest in Lisbon, where she considered that Portugal cannot be “the mecca of low wages” for multinationals.
As for a possible post-election agreement with the PS, the bloc leader said it would be “the most basic common sense” for it to be written, focusing on the contents of this understanding, which should be about salaries, education, housing and health.
The general secretary of the PCP, Paulo Raimundo, was also present at the meeting of Teleperformance workers, expressing his support for the strike and demanding the increase in wages in relation to the companies' profits.
On the second day of the official campaign, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that, as of 12:00 today, more than 90.000 voters had registered to vote in advance in mobility, on March 03rd.
Warnings also emerged from international organizations: Amnesty International defended as fundamental that Portugal has a Government and a parliament committed to defending human rights, while the financial rating agency DBRS warned of a potential delay in the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR ), if the electoral result requires prolonged negotiations or generates political instability.
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