Presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes considers that criticism from opponent Henrique Gouveia e Melo is due to the polls and guaranteed that if he is elected President of the Republic he will be independent and will not do “favors to any party”.
“Gouveia e Melo specializes in, every other day, saying bad things about me and making personal attacks on me. I think it’s not very nice, but I understand. He’s going down in the polls and I’m going up in the polls”, he stated, refusing to “respond in kind”.
Luís Marques Mendes argued that “it is necessary to raise the debate and campaign for the positive” and to think “especially about the country”.
The candidate for presidential elections at the beginning of next year, he spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to the event “Great choices – wines and flavors”, which began this Saturday at the Lisbon International Fair (FIL).
Luís Marques Mendes also stated that if he is elected President of the Republic, he will hold the position independently.
“And I will be in the Presidency, in terms of independence, as were Mário Soares, Jorge Sampaio, Cavaco Silva or Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, four presidents who came from the parties, but who were later independent of the parties, they were not doing favors to the parties. I will be the same way”, he highlighted.
The former PSD leader said he was “very proud” of his political past, but noted that he is “very independent” and anticipated that he would not “be doing favors for any party”.
Marques Mendes also considered that “no one has a monopoly on independence”.
In an interview with the Lusa agency, Admiral Gouveia e Melo considered that a President of the Republic can only be a moderator of the regime if he is exempt and that his opponent Marques Mendes will be left with a debt to the PSDwhich will be charged.
The presidential candidate argued that Portugal needs a truly impartial President of the Republic and not a “Trojan Horse” of a party.
“This Trojan horse can do two things: It is there to validate everything the party does; or it is there to, at the first opportunity, find a situation to bring down a government. Exemption is very difficult to have when we owe a lot of loyalty, not only for our path, but even for the support we have at the time of the election”, warned Henrique Gouveia e Melo.
At this point, the former Chief of Staff of the Armada went further: “Doctor Marques Mendes can say that he is not from the PSD, that he is independent, etc. Without the PSD he would not be elected. Therefore, he will be left with a debt to the PSD. And this debt will be charged to him”, he accused.