Livre, BE and PAN sign agreement with appeals to vote from disgruntled socialists

Livre, BE and PAN signed a pre-election coalition agreement this Sunday for the local elections in Loures, with appeals to the vote of socialists dissatisfied with the government of mayor Ricardo Leão.

The agreement was signed at Adão Barata Park in Loures, and was attended by Livre's spokesperson, Rui Tavares, PAN's spokesperson, Inês Sousa Real, and Fabian Figueiredo, the former parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc and candidate for the Loures City Council in 2017 and 2021. The coalition, called 'Building the Future,' will be led by Luís Sousa.

After signing the agreement, the three leaders spoke to journalists, addressing the demolition of shacks in the Talude neighborhood of Loures, ordered by the president of the local City Council, socialist Ricardo Leão.

Rui Tavares accused the major parties of believing that "the way to do politics now is to chase the froth of the days and whoever gets the most clicks on social media or the most minutes on television," stressing that the coalition now formed between Livre, BE, and PAN advocates a "policy of good neighborliness, of mutual aid, of respect."

The Livre spokesperson made an appeal to vote for socialists who “identify themselves in the memory of great mayors, such as Jorge Sampaio or João Soares”, and criticized the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, who he accused of being “sitting on” the Emergency Housing Fund, proposed by his party and approved within the scope of the State Budget for 2024, endowed with “more than 100 million” euros.

"They're there to be used precisely for this: emergency housing, to prevent people who missed a payment or rent from becoming homeless, to prevent problems that might be temporary from becoming huge problems because Luís doesn't want to work and Leão doesn't want to force him to work," he stressed.

In turn, PAN spokesperson Inês Sousa Real considered that in Loures we are witnessing a "betrayal of so-called socialist values", asking for the vote of those who, "regardless of the party they voted for in the previous local elections", identify with "humanist, respectful and responsible" values.

"No one chooses to live in a shack. (...) Gone are the days, unfortunately, when mayors took pride in handing out keys to people so they could live in decent housing in social housing, only to now demolish and evict people from the little roof they previously had to live under," he said.

Sousa Real assured that this is not the way the Livre, BE, PAN coalition works, stating that it is "truly humanist and brings values that are not only socialist, but above all humanitarian, progressive, and environmentally conscious."

Fabian Figueiredo considered that, by forming this coalition in Loures, Livre, BE and PAN “send an important signal that decent people know how to unite and build programs to bring an alternative.”

"And Loures urgently needs an alternative that puts human dignity at the center of policy, with decent, combative mayors who fight the battles that make public life worthwhile: ensuring housing, public transportation, and strong public services," he said.

Fabian Figueiredo considered, however, that “the power established in Loures has been a scare”, recalling that, in 2017, Ricardo Leão criticized the PSD for having presented André Ventura in the municipality and, now, “he makes exactly the same speech” as Chega.

"This is indecent, and that's why we say, very openly, that everyone who wants decent, empathetic, humanist, progressive, and environmentalist policies is welcome to join this coalition," he said, making a direct appeal to the Socialists.

"If the PS leadership doesn't know how to rise to the occasion when it comes to drawing red lines for decency, the BE, Livre, PAN and the dozens of independents that make up these lists are," he assured.