Presidential candidate António José Seguro appeared this Thursday, December 18, confident that he will go to the second round, at a lunch with supporters in which he declared himself blessed, and warned of the risk of “reinforcement of a totalitarian tendency” in these elections.
“It is clear that together we will be able to be in the second round. We will be able to be in the second round because it is unthinkable, it would be a nightmare for the country if there were a second round contested only in a political field”, he emphasized.
Seguro was speaking at a lunch that brought together two hundred supporters of his candidacy for Belém in Lisbon, with several figures from the PS, including the honorary president Manuel Alegre, the parliamentary leader, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the former ministers Fernando Medina, Alexandra Leitão, Duarte Cordeiro and Adalberto Campos Fernandes, among others.
For Seguro, after today “nothing will be the same as before”.
From the perspective of the former PS leader, “voters from the left, the center and even some from the right understand the importance of balancing the Government system” in Portugal by having someone with his characteristics and convictions as President of the Republic.
“But unlike other opponents who are also likely, according to the polls, to go through to the second round, I don’t want to have André Ventura in the second round. I really want to defeat him in the first round”, he said.
Seguro pointed out a difference between those who “make the small calculation of knowing who is best to win the election”.
“I make the great calculation of making Portugal come together again and be a united people around a project of hope, a design and a path for Portugal. And there are values that assert themselves without calculation at all times”, he emphasized.
Upon receiving the support of the PS, the candidate considered himself “a blessed person”, highlighting that the PS, throughout his life, declared support for Mário Soares, Jorge Sampaio, Manuel Alegre.
“And, with due distances, I also support this servant of yours and this friend of yours. I am blessed, but this increases my responsibility, the responsibility of always being in the right fight, the responsibility of always being firm in defending the values that appear in our Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”, he considered, promising to be “a President loyal to the Constitution”.
According to Seguro, “all elections are important, but this is a very important election.”
“Because on January 18th, precisely one month from now, the Portuguese will have to choose between reinforcing a totalitarian tendency in our country and the democratic pluralism that a President of the Republic must inspire”, he warned.