José Manuel Durão Barroso, former prime minister and former president of the European Commission, publicly declared this Saturday (1 November) his support for Luís Marques Mendes’ presidential candidacywith whom he shared several years of political life, both in the Cavaco Silva governments and in the short period in which Durão Barroso himself headed the Executive, before heading to Brussels, between 2002 and 2004.
“He was a competent and loyal minister, and that is very important”, recalled Durão Barroso in an interview with RTP, highlighting that the profile of Marques Mendes fits into the moderating and aggregating role that the President of the Republic should have. “He is someone with experience, with political wisdom, who knows how to seek balance and reach consensus. Someone who does not reserve surprises nor has tendencies towards extremism”, he highlighted.
Without directly commenting on the remaining candidates, Durão Barroso implicitly criticized some names already in the presidential race. “To be President of the Republic, it is necessary to have at least served in the Government, to have led a political party, to know the Parliament and the political forces”, he defended, listing a range of characteristics that only Marques Mendes completes.
The former prime minister further highlighted that the Portuguese “do not want extremism, especially not in the Presidency of the Republic”, and are looking for “someone who is not a leap in the dark” – in implicit references to other candidates, such as André Ventura and Gouveia e Melo. “Portugal needs someone who knows the institutions well and knows how to unite the country. And Marques Mendes has these qualities”, reinforced the former president of the European Commission.
In addition to Durão Barroso, also Pedro Mota Soaresformer CDS-PP minister, recently declared his support for the former social democratic leader.