Presidential candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo said today that he has received support from people from the PS, PSD, CDS and not just politicians, reaffirming himself as independent and without parties. “Yesterday [segunda-feira] Doctor Manuel Pizarro did the favor of declaring his support and for me it is important to have the support of independent people who have also been in politics for a few years, but I I am supported by many people from other sectors, not just politicians“, said Gouveia e Melo.
The candidate was speaking to journalists at the end of a visit to a shoe factory in Felgueiras, in the Porto district, and one day after the support of former socialist Minister of Health Manuel Pizarro for Gouveia e Melo’s candidacy was confirmed. Asked about this support, Henrique Gouveia e Melo said that “in private” he receives support from the PS, PSD and CDS.
“Some even say: ‘I have to pretend that I’m going to support another candidate, but then I’m going to put a cross in his name’. It’s part of politics. I am independent, I run without parties, my party is Portugal, and all Portuguese people can be part of that party”, he said.
Manuel Pizarro, who lost the election for the Porto municipality to Pedro Duarte in the elections held on October 12, attended the Conference Cycle: Accelerate Portugal – Artificial Intelligence, organized by the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs on Monday, to attend Gouveia e Melo’s intervention.
Also on Monday, in an interview with RTP, João Cotrim Figueiredo, former leader of the Liberal Initiative who is running for President of the Republic, assured his independence, guaranteeing that he was not linked to “discreet organizations”. “If someone approached me from Freemasonry and wanted to support me, I would refuse that support, because I do not consider that a discrete organization in a democracy should have the influence that Freemasonry has in some political organizations”, declared the candidate.
Faced with these statements, Gouveia e Melo downplayed them: “Portuguese society has many Freemasons. Most of them do not make themselves known, nor does anyone know that they are Freemasons. It’s like saying there is support from Catholics or Christians“, he said. For the retired admiral, these “are things that are now used for political debate, but in reality they have no meaning”.
“When I talk about independence, it’s about independence from interests, but also from party logic. This opponent, who I respect as a person, as an opponent, saying that he has party independence is a bit difficult for me to believe, but that’s it, that’s his position”, he concluded.
Healthcare has an organizational problem
Regarding the central issue of the last few days – Health, Gouveia e Melo said that “the country has been following a poorly defined course for a long time”, reiterating that “what is happening in health is an organizational problem”.
“What is happening in health is an organizational problem that has been affecting the health sector for some time, it is not the same as now. The problem is that, to solve an organizational problem that involves very diverse actors operating in the health system, You need to have courage, you need to carry out structural reforms and you need to know where you want to go”, said the candidate.
“We are governing for the newsfor the news, for the pressure, and we are not governing for the medium and long term, which is what truly transforms the country”, he said. Asked whether he sees the health sector directionless, Gouveia e Melo considered that the issue lies in the strategy and the model.
“We want an SNS [Serviço Nacional de Saúde] public with the capacity to provide security to the Portuguese, especially the most disadvantaged Portuguese, or do we want to pave the way for a more global privatization of the Portuguese healthcare system, moving towards the American-type system with the consequences for the most disadvantaged population. As no one talks about it, there is no defined direction, and if there is no defined direction, there are not necessarily coherent policies”, he considered.
Asked what model he defends, Gouveia e Melo shielded himself from the position he is running for: “I am running for the Presidency of the Republic, not for an executive Government and that is a governance problem”, he said. To the admiral, “What the President has to do is, interpreting the will of the entire people, demand good governance”, in other words “requiring that this path be taken towards an objective that is to serve the population”, he stressed.