A rich boy playing socialism

It is not yet known who will win the elections. There are many undecided voters, and the PS could always win, since it is the party with the most influence in Portuguese society. But the socialists themselves recognize that it will not be easy to win the elections on the 18th.

It's 8pm on a weekday and Pedro Nuno Santos, candidate for PM, spent about twenty minutes explaining to the Portuguese people that he bought two houses, one in Lisbon and a farm in Alentejo (presumably for spending weekends and holidays), with his parents' money. Of course there's no problem with rich parents buying houses for their children. No one has anything to do with it, except possibly the taxman. But PNS is not just any Portuguese. He is a candidate for PM; and there are only two in Portugal (Ventura won't take it the wrong way if I don't consider him a candidate for PM). A candidate for PM, a man with a beard and white hair, telling the Portuguese people, 'it was my parents who gave me the houses.' This was the fateful political moment for the leader of the PS.

In fact, PNS knows that politically that moment was too embarrassing. That is why he has to insist on the case of Montenegro's company. PNS knows that he only has one chance to win the elections: for the Portuguese to believe that there are legal problems with Luís Montenegro's business life. In other words, PNS needs to convince the Portuguese that the purchase of his houses was completely transparent, but Montenegro's business activities raise suspicions.

The big problem for the National Health Service is that, even though there are no suspicions of illegalities on the part of the Prime Minister, and there are none at the moment, his case is politically more serious than Montenegro's. How many Portuguese people, after getting married, receive from their parents a nice house in Lisbon and a farm in the Alentejo? I don't know any. How many Portuguese people start business activities to earn a living? Hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

There are no legal issues with any of them, for the Portuguese, Montenegro opened a company to earn a living, PNS received two houses from his parents. There are many more Portuguese people doing what Montenegro does, than with the life that PNS has. Many Portuguese people identify with Montenegro. All Portuguese people think that PNS is privileged.

What must the Portuguese people who watched the debate between Montenegro and the National Socialist Party have thought when the issue of housing and the difficulties that young people face in buying their first home were discussed? The truth is that the National Socialist Party has never experienced these difficulties. He doesn't know what it's like to ask for your first loan from the bank when you've just got married. The doubts about whether the appraiser will confirm the value of the house so that you can get the loan. The insurance and deed costs that you have to pay. The bills that you have to make to pay off the loans every month. The drama of having to pay off your bank payments late. The tragedy of losing your job and not being able to pay off your bank loan. This is the reality for most Portuguese people. The National Socialist Party has never experienced this. Just like Marxism, which he fell in love with, he has a theoretical understanding of the difficulties of buying your first home. But it's really just theoretical. And he confessed this live on television to the Portuguese people who have difficulties buying homes.

Many, especially in the Socialist Party, believed that the PNS would be able to win back the votes of young people who are fleeing the Socialists. But most young people see the PNS as a rich boy helped by rich parents. That is not their experience.