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Good evening,

The local authority elections are being held tomorrow.

Local authorities are one of the most important conquests of our democracy. Local authorities perform an irreplaceable role in the promotion of the well being of all the Country’s people.

The elections for offices in local authorities are a critical factor in the life of our democracy. Citizens are called upon to participate and to take decisions that influence their day-to-day life. The results of the local authority elections will determine the quality of living in the locations where they reside and work.

And this is why the right to vote assumes such relevance in the elections of the authorities that are nearer to the people.

When participating with our votes, we are materializing the freedom to choose our local representatives and the policies they propound.

When voting we are influencing the solutions that, in the future, will be adopted in land planning, in the use of the financial resources and in the economic, social and cultural dynamics of the locations where we live.

The participation of each citizen is a sign of the vigorousness of our democracy and of the human assets of our communities.

We must not allow others to take decisions on our behalf. I appeal to all to exercise your rights of citizenship.

Democratic debate and the clarification of the proposals of each candidacy is particularly important, such as is each elector’s responsibility to analyse their credibility and realism.

This year, the clarifying of electors was impaired by the lack of lucidity in the legislation ruling the presentation of candidacies and the coverage by the media of the electoral campaign, limited by conditions considered as anachronistic in the context of contemporary information society.

It is urgent that electoral legislation is the object of deep reflection, in order to vanquish the inertia of the lawmaker and to avoid that such issues, as well as those related with the timing for the calling of elections, persist in future electoral acts.

In matters related with electoral rules and with the exercise of fundamental political freedoms, it is imperative that legislation is clear and that rulings unadjusted to our current demands are not allowed to continue in force.

The quality of legislation must contribute towards the quality of democracy.

Many are the Portuguese that, in these elections, made themselves available to comprise the electoral lists, far from ambitions to become known to the media and only due to their dedication to the location where they live. This is a very significant civic gesture that deserves being emphasized.
It is equally relevant to recognize the actions of proximity carried out by the officers responsible for the local authorities, throughout four decades of democracy, in providing the respective counties with the indispensable infrastructure required for their development and in the reduction of our country’s regional asymmetries.

Currently, local authorities are called upon to face new challenges and, as I have repeatedly stated, are able to carry out a very important role in the social and educational areas and in the economic dynamics of the local communities.

We are at a time when the proposals presented by candidates must forcibly take into account budgetary restrictions and the financial situation Portugal is going through. Respect for public funds, for socioeconomic reality and for the real interest of the citizens must be everyone’s concern.

A free and responsible vote is the essence of democracy.

I appeal to all Portuguese to exercise their polling rights tomorrow.

Be sure to vote. For our democracy, for our local communities, for the future of Portugal.

Good evening.