Lisbon, Oct. 18, 2024 (Lusa) - The PSD leader's global strategy motion outlines his goals for the next two years as winning the local elections and supporting a broad presidential candidate, preferably a party activist.

In the global strategy motion with which Luís Montenegro was re-elected in the direct elections and which will be voted on Saturday at the 42nd PSD Congress in Braga, the still uncertain approval of the 2025 State Budget is never mentioned, in a context in which the 80 PSD and CDS-PP deputies are insufficient to make it viable.

The motion "Acreditar em Portugal" (Believing in Portugal) refers to the two elections planned until 2026, setting the goal of winning the local elections in September/October 2025: "We have set ourselves the goal of putting the PSD back at the head of the National Association of Municipalities (ANMP) and the National Association of Parishes (ANAFRE)".

Regarding the presidential elections in January 2026, the text recalls that this is "a one-man election, where candidacies arise from the individual will of the personalities who propose to fulfil the role of President of the Republic".

"In the case of the PSD, we will follow the tradition of awaiting the possible availability of party militants with the personal and political aptitude and qualifications for the position," it says.

The motion argues that the PSD's ranks include "militants with notoriety and in-depth and transversal knowledge of the country, public policies, democratic and civic institutions, international geopolitical reality, our participation in the United Nations Organisation, the European Union, Nato, the CPLP and all the international platforms in which we intervene".

"Personalities who are impartial and competent to fulfil the responsibilities that the Constitution of the Republic assigns to the nation's highest magistrate," it reads.

Even so, it is emphasised that the option supported by the PSD will be "necessarily comprehensive and worthy of the trust of voters from other political areas or without a predefined political identity".

There are still no declared candidates to succeed Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Still, former PSD leader and television commentator Luís Marques Mendes said at the end of August that he was "closer than ever" to deciding on this step.

In a recent interview with SIC, PM Montenegro acknowledged that the former PSD leader is one of the potential candidates who "best fits" the profile he has drawn up, although he said he is not the only one.

In his motion, the PSD leader and former candidate criticises previous governments' "socialist inaction" and suggests ways to combat extremist parties.

"The fight against corruption must be a priority. We can't leave it to the extremes to monopolise this issue. If the moderates don't mobilise against corruption, it's only natural that people will rebel against the moderates," the text says.

On immigration, the text warns of "perverse impacts" in some territories when it is "unregulated, uncontrolled and unplanned" and advocates a policy focussed on "integration, predictability and adaptation to common values".

In the area of social security, "a reform of the pension system" is mentioned, without further details, as well as "simplification of the rules for access to social support and the creation of a Solidarity Pay Supplement", in a text that reiterates the commitment to increase investment in Defence to 2% of GDP by 2029.

A large part of the motion is dedicated to recalling some of the measures already presented by the PSD/CDS-PP government that took office on 2 April in areas such as education or health, which is highlighted as a "top priority".

The motion, which includes several quotes from the poet Luís Vaz de Camões, emphasises that the current PSD leadership won four of the five elections it contested in the first two years of its mandate (the exception being the European elections).

"The PSD has recreated itself as the largest Portuguese party," the text concludes, emphasising that these results were achieved with two new parties (IL and Chega, which are never mentioned).

Even so, Montenegro promises a separation between party and government: "We fully realise that the government must not be confused with the party and the party must not be confused with the government," he said.

SMA/ADB // ADB.

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