Porto, Portugal, March 21, 2025 (Lusa) - The minister of parliamentary affairs, Pedro Duarte, said on Friday that the Portuguese "will eventually feel" that the current political crisis is "pointless" and "unnecessary", following the results of a poll released that points to an increase in undecided voters.
The minister, who was speaking in Porto on the sidelines of a conference organised by the newspaper Eco on the subject of the future of the media, stressed that the poll (carried out by ICS/ISCTE for Expresso and SIC), which shows the outgoing ruling Democratic Alliance coalition (AD) in the lead and an increase in undecided voters, "is an exercise in guesswork", even though it is favourable to the current government.
"The undecided are just that. They're undecided and so I don't know what that really means," he said, but pointed out that "if there's any conclusion that can be drawn, it's that it does confirm a little" what the government's vision is.
"The Portuguese feel that there is a government that is transforming the country and that it makes sense for this government not to be disrupted," he said.
Asked about a possible lack of faith among the public in politicians, Pedro Duarte said that, if true, "it's not positive".
"I think the Portuguese will eventually feel what I myself feel. This crisis was unnecessary and most likely pointless. But I think we should think positively, look at life positively. So we should look forward to this two-month interregnum and then the country will resume the successful path it was on," he emphasised.
"I think all the Portuguese understand that it would be impossible and also, I would say, doubly negative to maintain a government in a state in which the opposition clearly wanted to fry on a low heat," he criticised.
"That wouldn't be good for the country," he continued, noting that, "maybe we should wait a couple of months now, take a break, so that the country can then continue to look to the future and work on a transformation."
The minister listed the various measures approved by the government, pointing to the resolution of problems in various professional sectors and national economic growth, as well as increases in pensions.
"Now, some opposition parties probably didn't live well with this, they didn't live well with the success of the country and confused it with the success of the government, for their own political reasons," he lamented.
"It certainly wouldn't interest them [the opposition] if the government continued to show results. They wanted to create a crisis that is absolutely artificial," he emphasised.
ALN/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
