Marta Temido admits municipal “seduction” and says that “at this moment” she can only respond that she has no “plan” to exchange Europe for Lisbon

The head of the PS list for the Europeans does not definitively close the door to a local candidacy – which implies leaving her mandate in Europe halfway through (this after having to leave her mandate as deputy in Portugal to the detriment of Europe). Marta Temido also reacts to Luís Montenegro, who criticized the PS for choosing someone who resigned from the previous government to head the list in these European elections

Marta Temido even said that it would be “inelegant” to comment on Luís Montenegro’s criticisms but she ended up doing so: “The Portuguese know me, the Portuguese know my journey, they know the reasons that led me to submit my resignation ”, he responded to journalists outside the Constitutional Court, at the moment when the PS handed over the lists of candidates for the elections to the European Parliament in June.

Asked if she will fulfill her mandate until the end or if she will “jump halfway to other adventures”, she said she had “no plans whatsoever” to leave halfway. At least “at the moment” this is how she position: “That’s the only answer I can give you at the moment, is that the European project is a very important project and there has also been a lot of talk about it, that it needs to be somehow made profitable in terms of the presence of an MEP to think about this possibility.”

When asked whether a candidacy for the Lisbon City Council is out of the question, Marta Temido recalled that “what I said was that I understood – and I understand – that many of the great challenges of our time are faced in the lives of cities and obviously, as I too have a From a background of executive functions, obviously the project of leading a local authority had an attraction for me”. “But that doesn’t mean more than what those words mean, it’s an appreciation and not a commitment to a project. Commitment is what this team – of which I am only temporarily the head of the list, because we will all be MEPs – has with the Portuguese”, he highlighted.

Regarding several of the PS candidates for the European Parliament having also been elected to the Assembly of the Republic, the head of the list said that they are “candidates for the people, for the Portuguese” and will “defend the same values ​​and defend the same causes”. The socialist candidate highlighted that the PS list “intends to represent a sign that citizens of various origins can be in Europe representing the Portuguese and bringing their voice further to Europe”.

“Our political family at European level is the one that represents the greatest progressive force”

The head of the PS list for the Europeans considered that these elections have “their own value” and are “a very important dispute”, but refused that they are a new test of strength with the PSD after the legislative ones: “We know that the Portuguese, especially when throughout the campaign, they will be able to understand that this is a different dispute, it is a dispute that is very important, that has institutions in which a lot of our future is at stake, therefore, it is an election that has its own value and the Portuguese, even in latest Eurostat survey, they show that they understand well the importance of Europe and are increasingly aware of this”.

Marta Temido pointed out that the PS is a “deeply Europeanist party” and that it is “committed to a proactive attitude towards the European project”, believing that “there are instruments in European architecture that, if well used, allow us to better respond to the expectations of European and Portuguese citizens”. “Our political family at European level is the one that represents the greatest progressive force and there is a lot of work to do so that Europe’s results are a reality in our daily lives, in terms of improving the quality of life, in terms of a more democratic society and in terms of what is the fulfillment of the great European project, which is a project of peace and prosperity for all”.

Marta Temido was at the Constitutional Court accompanied by other PS candidates for the European Parliament, such as Ana Catarina Mendes. The general secretary of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, and the second candidate, Francisco Assis, were not present when the list was presented.