From young to grey-haired, Beja shouted that “no one else closes the doors that April opened” | Legislative 2024

“In Mértola there are students who come to school by taxi due to the lack of public transport”. This is how Lucas Candeias’ speech began at the CDU rally this Saturday, in Beja. The representative of the Portuguese Communist Youth (JCP) spoke to an audience of around 200 people to demand employment, conditions in schools and the end of national exams.

The rain led the communists to exchange the rally in Jardim do Bacalhau for the Casa da Cultura. In the room, young and less young people held the national flag and that of the PCP-PEV coalition. Paulo Raimundo was received with loud applause and the sound of bass drums that made the floor vibrate. The PCP leader walked around the room and sat down. But every now and then he would get up to speak and hug those who approached him.

Before taking the microphone, the well-known poem by Ary dos Santos was heard on stage, with the activists joining voices at the end to promise that “now no one will close the doors that April opened”.

Among those present was the representative of the district’s JCP. At just 17 years old, Lucas Candeias tells PÚBLICO that he knows what he wants: “a district with better salaries and pensions and where it is enjoyable to live”.

In 2021, 28% of the population of the Beja district was 65 or over, according to provisional Census data, cited by Alentejo Diary. The CDU “values ​​the interior and people”, he highlights. And he adds that it is necessary to provide opportunities for young people in the district, who “often emigrate”. Not emigrating “is a right we have”, he concludes.

During this rally there was space for the head of the list for the Beja constituency to take the microphone. “We will not allow our district and country to fall into the abyss of those who say they are against corruption, but feed” on it, stated João Dias.

And then, addressing those who were listening attentively, he promised that the CDU will fight for children to be “happier, with free, quality public education and free daycare centers. But also teaching that respects teachers.”

The deputy’s intervention brought communist militants to a fever pitch. And even Paulo Raimundo recognized it: “It’s difficult to lift the audience the way João did.” And he left him a vote of confidence: João Dias “never missed any call from the population. He is a deputy of his word, dignity and trust. He is a deputy serving – and only serving – the people, unlike the PS and PSD deputies”, he attacked.