Marcelo’s statements were “unfortunate” and the President needs “to be more careful”, says Marques Mendes

The former president of the PSD considers that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had “an unhappy night” with the statements that came out of the meeting with the foreign press. “When speaking to the foreign press, the President of the Republic had an unhappy night, he said what he shouldn’t have said and focused attention on himself for the worst reasons. It was all meaningless”, said Luís Marques Mendes in his comment space on “SIC”.

Marques Mendes that the words spoken about Luís Montenegro (current prime minister) and António Costa (former prime minister), namely the comparisons, were “inelegant considerations”, and he gave “unnecessary explanations about relations with his son, which should belong to family intimacy and not to the public square” and “above all the unhappiness of the idea of ​​alleged compensation to former colonies“, at a time that preceded the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April and meetings with PALOP.

Regarding reparations, the commentator notes that “it is a meaningless idea, it is a dispute that does not exist, it is a topic that irritates society and that should not be approached at the breakfast table with such lightness. Furthermore, without consultation with the Government, the only entity with competence in the matter”.

For Marques Mendes, it was “everything very unhappy”.

Despite highlighting that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has always presented a “very informal record”, Marques Mendes considers that “this time it was too much” and that the President “has to control this momentum, for the good of himself and the country”.

“A President of the Republic must be a unifying factor. By acting this way, the President is not uniting, he is dividing”. In this way, Luís Marques Mendes recalls the criticisms leveled at the President of the Republic in the Assembly of the Republic, during the speeches on the 25th of April. “The criticisms made of him are regrettable, but the President of the Republic gave rise to it”, he said.

“A President of the Republic must be a balancing factor. Especially when society is very radicalized. By addressing the way he addressed issues such as compensation to former colonies, the President only contributed to adding radicalism to the already existing radicalism”.

Marques Mendes also spoke of the “opportunity criterion” of his statements. “We are at a time when the country really needs the President of the Republic, to build bridges and help ‘secure’ stability”, this at a time when the Assembly “is very fragmented” and that “the Government has a very slim majority ”. “Marcelo can only help the country if his credibility is high and if he does not waste his political capital. Interventions like this don’t help. We need to be more careful”, pointed out the politician.