Hugo Carvalho was elected by Porto and now by Viseu, a district run by one of Luís Montenegro’s biggest supporters. After having been Rui Rio’s bet and having supported Jorge Moreira da Silva, he believes that “the bench will not rise up against Luís Montenegro” and says that “the leadership of the bench has to be aligned” with the new leadership of the party, admitting that there may be changes in the direction of the parliamentary group. The interview was recorded a few hours before the debate and vote on the decriminalization of euthanasia.
[Ouça aqui o Sofá do Parlamento com o deputado Hugo Carvalho, do PSD]
Hugo Carvalho, from the PSD: “I don’t think the bench will rebel against Montenegro”
You have voted in favor of euthanasia in the past, will you keep the same vote?
This is an issue that, being a fracture issue, the whole country agrees is a matter of conscience. And when it comes to conscience, it’s mine and I’ve already thought a lot about it. I discussed the matter in and out of Parliament, many years before I came here and after I arrived. My conscience told me so at the time and it tells me now that within this framework —it is not just about saying that you are against or in favor of euthanasia in the abstract, you have to understand how it is applied— I maintain my position and that of respecting that of society. There is another vote and I, being in favor of euthanasia, am also in favor of the idea of a referendum. If I vote for my conscience, I also have to respect that society votes according to theirs.
But doesn’t that mean that the debate was not that broad?
It spread widely inside the gates of Parliament and outside. No issue is just any issue, but this is an issue that marks the country. I am not at all against the idea of holding a referendum, whatever it may be. I am also moving forward since I will vote against the Chega project, which calls for a Chega-style referendum, simplifying everything, without saying anything about whether you have a fatal disease, an incurable disease, if you have a chronic condition. Finally, it is necessary to put things in the right terms. I have my opinion, but I respect that of others.
The PSD gave freedom to vote not only on euthanasia but also on the referendum. Shouldn’t there have been voting discipline in the referendum, since it is not a matter of conscience?
It is a long discussion. There is a current of thought that this is a political issue and another that this is related to the issue of euthanasia and that the deputies have the mandate to decide on this. What was understood is that the position of the party is also expressed by those who are here and freedom was given in both matters, despite the fact that there were PSD congresses in which motions against this issue were approved.
Could this position have been taken because of the timing of the leadership transition?
Changing leadership makes many things difficult, but it also makes some things easier. Here I think not. On other occasions this has happened. In this matter, which is so fractured, there are different opinions, and not only in the PSD, in all of them, apart from the extremes.
Still in euthanasia. Do you think that these projects were corrected enough to overcome the doubts of the President of the Republic?
The best I could say was what my cell phone told me a while ago in a notification that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would keep his doubts. So the doubts are his, not mine.
And do you think you are exempt from the analysis? in these doubts? Or there is the question of the conscience of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
That would not be able to answer. I am neither inside nor outside the conscience of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and I would only say that over the years he has excellently fulfilled the role of President of the Republic.
Let’s go to this transition phase. He is also a member of the parliamentary caucus. With the change of leadership, should Paulo Mota Pinto vacate the place?
The leadership of the parliamentary group must be aligned with the leadership of the party and I believe that in that direction there are protagonists with conscience and party elevation to do so, as is the case of Paulo Mota Pinto and all my fellow caucuses, I want to believe. We all agree that this internal PSD war is enough. Internal elections do not mean that when there are two options, the other is hated. It has to do with identification and positioning.
But wouldn’t this banking management have any problems creating this unity with Luis Montenegro?
I have no doubt that this leadership would create this unity with the party, in the best of cases for the PSD. The parliamentary group is one of the greatest instruments that the party has and that Luís Montenegro will have at its disposal. I don’t want to believe that the parliamentary group will rise up against Luís Montenegro, or that it will stop using him. Let’s not be hypocrites, I’ve always tried to be dust free, we don’t expect any change. I don’t know what they are, I was not elected party leader. It is natural that every time the leadership changes, we all have to be available to serve the party, wherever it sees fit. There must also be an awareness of the PSD that they have good elements here, with quality, available, not only within Parliament but also outside, and that will now be up to the leaders to decide that. Normally people are always asked if the place should be released, I don’t think they have to come to release places and give up. If by chance Luís Montenegro says that Mota Pinto should go, we are all going in the same direction. If you say that he should stay, we can all be in the same direction, change some. You can change everything, you can’t change anything. This will be a balance that the president of the party will make with the president of the parliamentary group and that I hope will turn out well in that sense of maintaining the good protagonists that the party has, among them Paulo Mota Pinto.
You have already mentioned the issue of positioning and that you do not have to dislike one of the options. Hugo Carvalho supported Jorge Moreira da Silva but taking the slogan of Montenegro, do you believe in that leadership?
You don’t have to dislike yourself, it can be a matter of identification and clearly it was with me. I supported Jorge Moreira da Silva because he identified with his thinking for many years and because he essentially had two essential things. Jorge’s vision of the world [Moreira da Silva] It has the modernity of public policies, international agendas, global positioning and the thought that has been produced in this regard, but above all in something that for me is fundamental, that the party and the new leadership have to do: a structural reform . About the organizations within the PSD, the organization of the PSD, the participation of the militants, the opportunities that the militants have, the way in which we communicate and organize ourselves, which are things that we older parties have to do. Jorge Moreira da Silva had that desire and I identify with it and at the same time I think he made a great candidacy.
And do you think it can still be useful? For example, on this issue of internal reform?
The leader of the party and Jorge Moreira da Silva will say it. The three of us agree on one thing: Jorge Moreira da Silva and his followers are unmissable, and I quote Montenegro. That is why Jorge Moreira da Silva will always be useful for the match. I think we have a leader with the qualities to do what is necessary, to oppose the PS, to be much better in a country vision than the PS and with the ability to overcome the challenges in Madeira and in Europe. The PSD can position itself by reforming itself internally, in a society in which the voter is no longer traditional: from the club of ideas or from the party. Society is much more dynamic than that and the PSD even has a Rui Rio brand here, in which it is on the side of solutions, on the side of the country. Even when other parties such as the Left Bloc and the PCP were there for convenience while he governed and in which they backed down during the pandemic. And then with the initiative of the General State Budgets. The problems of the country are not resolved. We have a situation of inflation, of labor problems in which the prime minister is asking the private sector to increase salaries and at the same time – as reported today – the salary to enter the civil service is almost the same as in 2009 It is no longer just the low salary in all of Portugal. Nor does it pay more to go to work for public service. That idea that was sold in Portugal that poverty was being combated without creating wealth is the greatest defect of the PS that can be seen. This is where the PSD can capitalize very well and Luís Montenegro has every opportunity to take the lead in the alternatives. I want to believe you’ll have the whole party with you.
The convocation of João Leão to the Parliament, due to ISCTE funding, was an issue that led to the beginning of the legislature. With the Budget in the middle, can this issue lose strength? Wasn’t it a lateral pass?
It will have lost media force, but it will continue to be interesting and I can promise that the arrival of João Leão will still have things to clarify. Higher education institutions are the same. Nobody knows what happened in the negotiation between the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Higher Education and ISCTE because they all tell different stories. Not being as current as he was, João Leão is already a candidate for a series of other things. It seems that you are still looking for the best place.
Ended the inner life of the PSD again. He was the first on Viseu’s list. The district leader was left out of the lists and they have always been with different candidates: Pedro Alves with Rangel and Montenegro, Hugo Carvalho with Rio and Moreira da Silva. Now that the name of Pedro Alves is mentioned for general secretary, would you like to have the district leader in a position of this importance in the PSD?
For my district it is always good to have an important position in the national leadership. Pedro Alves was not a candidate for deputy, but he was not left out of the party either. Pedro Alves is well within the party and if he manages to occupy a position of great importance it is very important for the district and I wish him good luck, because his happiness is that of the party and mine too.
No rashes on this matter?
Nope.
Source: Observadora
