Last night’s local election results gave the ruling PSD another major boost: the party is now in control of both national municipal associations, ANAFRE – the association of parish councils – and ANMP, the association of municipalities, which fell to PS Socialists over a decade ago.
The significance of this return to overall control has not been lost on prime minister Luís Montenegro who told his audience last night in Porto – the seat of an uplifting PSD victory – that this had been his focus when he assumed the party leadership in 2022.
“I invite you to look in your notes for the last PSD prime minister who won local elections while in office,” he said, in an implicit reference to former Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, who won them in 1985, already Prime Minister.
In the PSD’s most recent local elections (in 2001, 2005 and 2009), the party was in opposition.
“I won’t say it’s a historic result, but it’s extraordinarily relevant,” he said. The party now has more votes, more mandates, more parish council presidents, more city council presidents and has achieved historic victories in the country’s five largest municipalities (Lisbon, Porto, Vila Nova da Gaia, Sintra and Cascais), while leading the two autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) and having a majority in parliament.
“This gives us a great responsibility, the responsibility not to fail, the responsibility to translate into concrete decisions, objectives, and results the trust we have received from the people,” he added.
Being the consummate political animal that he is, the PSD leader warned that “everyone presented themselves as winners (…) but objectively, we were the second most represented force in terms of the mayor’s office, now we are first; we were the second most represented force in terms of parish council residents, now we are first. We weren’t the political force with the most votes and the most seats, but now we are. I don’t know what else I can say to prove our electoral victory.”
Source material: LUSA
