Three million, four hundred and eighty-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-one Portuguese men and women cast their votes for António José Seguro. In each of them there is associated an expectation, a problem, an anxiety, a desire, a hope, a dream, an objective to be achieved and in need of support. And then President Elect, how will you respond to the trust that two thirds of Portuguese people have given you? In the logic of the demand you promised, maintaining stability and institutional cooperation with the Government, what will you do and how will you do it, if the results do not emerge?
We don’t want to be pessimistic, do we? But with your conscience in mind, do you really think that this Government is in the operational conditions to respond and act with dexterity and with positive results? Montenegro seems asleep! The President-Elect did not talk about Justice in his victory speech. I certainly wouldn’t be able to talk about everything, but a mega-process in Portugal can take between 15 and 20 years and in Finland, a European country like us, a very complex process is resolved in 5 to 7 years. How are we going to solve this, President-Elect?
What about corruption and transparency? How will it be? The Transparency Entity has only three technicians to analyze hundreds of politicians’ income declarations. Just three technicians? Is it on purpose, President-Elect? There are dozens of statements that have not yet been analyzed. But, with so many public servants in the State machine, there are no technicians for the Transparency Entity. Do you think it is possible, President-Elect? In 2025, Portugal recorded the worst result ever, I repeat, ever in the Corruption Perception Index (Transparency International)
Another subject!
His predecessor, still occupying the Belém Palace, solemnly promised to put an end to homelessness during his term of office and, here, there are now 14,500. So, President-Elect? What will be done with this situation? More promises aren’t worth it, aren’t they! Nobody believes it anymore.
And “like a scythe”, as people say, since we talk about homelessness, how is it possible, in a civilized European country, for a woman, precisely a homeless woman, to go into labor in a tent located at one of the main entrances to the Mouraria Shopping Center, in Martim Moniz. Well, it’s Health, President-Elect! Healthcare where anyone who needs an ophthalmology consultation from a family doctor (if available) has to wait two to three years.
And then, President-Elect, there are the poor. Around two million Portuguese women and men at risk of poverty. How are we going to do, President-Elect, to end, once and for all, this social scourge?
We know how sensitive and human you are about this situation, but this has been going on for years and we never see a light at the end of the tunnel again!
And since we’re talking about the tunnel, I now remember the trains and CP, this public company-national cancer that has been gnawing at our State Budget for decades. You were still minding your private life when Pedro Nuno Santos decided to buy, in November 2023, 117 Spanish trains. And so much so that we need them! But the purchase was made in such a way, and so absurd, that everything ended up in court between the companies Stadler and the Spanish CAF. An operation (?) that made us lose 191 million euros of European aid that was non-refundable. The trains were supposed to arrive by 2030, but now who knows! But, President-Elect, why do purchases in this country always end up like this? In court and with losses to the public treasury. Is it our fate or is this what?
Well, time passes. One of these days for the rain that, by now, will have already caused a hole in our GDP (around 0.5%, they say) and after the spring, which we are looking forward to, comes summer and, with it, the fires. How will it be, President-Elect? Are we going to have planes in the air, which cost us tons of money per hour, or are we going to do prevention? Is it so difficult to prevent?
It’s all in the books! Clear the forests, create containment strips around towns, cities and infrastructure, increase pasture and agricultural areas, set up surveillance towers, cameras and sensors that detect fire, plant more cork oak, oak and holm oak, cutting down the eucalyptus and kicking the lobby of cellulose and, of course, restructure the entire firefighting system with the creation of a single command. We have institutions, employees, technicians to do this. So why don’t they do it?
Then, President-Elect, there are the young people. They are the future of the country, aren’t they? Between 2012 and 2021, 194 thousand young graduates emigrated and 40% of those who, today, finish college only think about going abroad. We lost the best we have, didn’t we? And the teachers? Where are we going to get 20,000 new teachers by 2030 to replace those who are going to retire?
O President-Elect, talk to Montenegro, as I have an idea that he is not doing well! The man looks lost! Who knows, maybe a government reshuffle would help. After the dismissal in Internal Administration, perhaps new blood in Health, Work, Justice and Administrative Modernization would liven up the crowd!
One thing is certain. The three million, four hundred and eighty-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-one Portuguese men and women who voted for you will want to demand that vote. There is no such thing as a free lunch, President-Elect. If everything remains the same, a considerable part of the responsibility will be yours. And Chega lá will be lurking, as always, like a bird of prey, taking advantage of the remains and, with them, growing.
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