Marcelo. New cycle can no longer be a "missed opportunity"

President of the Republic spoke at the commemorative ceremony of the 5th of October. 

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa dedicates the first words of his speech at the 5th of October ceremony to the evocation of Jorge Sampaio, later leaving his thanks to Fernando Medina, the outgoing leader of the Lisbon City Council, accompanied by a wish of congratulations to his successor, Carlos Moedas.

"If we want the 5th of October to have any meaning, we have to make it a living date", defends the President of the Republic. And that means "a more inclusive Portugal, which enters in time into a new economic, climate, energy, science, technology cycle ". And a country "more attentive to the people, to their sovereignty, to social rights".

Marcelo stresses that the country "will never overcome the challenges of entering in time a new economic cycle with two million poor" and many at risk of poverty, and calls for a more inclusive country. For this, Portugal must be able to "enter the first", and not the middle or the last, of the new economic cycle that opens after the pandemic. A cycle that will feature European funds, which Marcelo wants to see applied with "rigor, efficiency and transparency", warning that this cannot be "another lost opportunity".

Medina. "There is no radicalism or populism that is good for democracy"

his last speech as mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina, this Tuesday morning underlined the importance of "republican values" and the annual celebrations of the 5th of October.

"111 years ago, on the balcony of this chamber, the Republic was proclaimed", recalled Medina, arguing that marking this date is not just "evoking a past time and its History", but a "lesson" to "combat what contributes to the erosion of democracy and the breakdown of citizens' trust in institutions".

It was the motto for a warning speech against populism, against the "very minority voices" who, even so, achieve "a disproportionate projection" and "take advantage of the weaknesses of democracies" to openly contest civilizational values

"There is neither radicalism nor populism that are good for democracy", says Medina in the Paços do Concelho, in Lisbon - "Democrats are required not to give in to demagogic blackmail and the air of time falling into the trap of responding to populism with populism " .