The head of the PS list for the Europeans, Marta Temido, stated this Sunday that she was unable to “debate with all” the other candidates, due to the “short calendar” until the elections, showing her willingness to find other formats.
“We are unable to hold debates with everyone in the time we have between now and the elections and, clearly, that is a problem, but we can have other formats and we are available to debate them”, he highlighted.
Marta Temido, who was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to the Ovibeja agricultural fair, was asked about criticism of the refusal of the PS and the Democratic Alliance (AA) to participate in the model of debates on European women proposed by television.
Considering that “the calendar is short” until the elections on June 9th, the socialist candidate admitted that it was “desirable for there to be debates with everyone”, but recalled that there is “approximately a month left until the European elections”.
“It seems to us that it would be more sensible for us to try to balance a television presence schedule, where many people follow us, with direct contact with people, where we can also reach each person directly”, he highlighted.
The head of the PS list for the Europeans defended that the Portuguese “complain about the distance from politics”, but warned that this discontent “is not related to television politics, spectacle politics and commentary politics”.
Voters complain that there is a lack of “the policy of listening to others and we also need time for that”, he stressed, noting that the PS made a counter-proposal and is now awaiting a decision from the media and campaign management.
Asked about her favorite model, Marta Temido replied that she doesn’t have one, but pointed out that there are “several hypotheses”.
“Debates in which we are all present is also a form of debate, with less time, but we can multiply these debates in order to ensure that the counter-argument is made more often so that people become more informed”, he highlighted.
Another possibility would be debates only with candidates from the political forces that are represented in the European Parliament, but this would “exclude parties”, which would also “not be desirable”, he stressed.
According to the newspaper Expresso, the PS and AD refused the debate model proposed by RTP, TVI and SIC for the European elections on June 9, in which 28 face-to-face meetings were planned between the party list leaders. with representation in the Assembly of the Republic.
These political forces claimed that there was a high number of duels, which would affect the electoral campaign, and admitted to accepting a lighter calendar.
On Saturday, at the end of the PS National Commission, the socialist leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, stated that his party has to “campaign on the streets, in the territory, with people” and not spend “all the time in debates and debate comments.”
The head of the PCP list for the European elections, João Oliveira, has already accused the PS and AD of not wanting to “confront themselves with scrutiny” in television debates, arguing that the refusal harms the mobilization of the electorate to the polls.
The head of BE’s list for the European elections, Catarina Martins, accused PS and PSD of wanting to hide their candidates because they had rejected the proposed model of debates, and insisted on them face to face.
In turn, the leader of IL, Rui Rocha, pointed out that these two were responsible for “an attack on democracy” because they were “trying to prevent” the holding of debates on the European elections with all parties.
