"If there is always good news for the PSD, it is that the CDS is, let's say, completely out. And therefore obviously the CDS is different from the PSD, and that is a good thing", stressed Paulo Rangel, at the closing of the 31st Congress of the CDS-PP, in Viseu, in his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also as vice-president of the PSD.

Questioned about the fact that the former leader of the CDS Manuel Monteiro stated at the grand meeting that the party should not apologize for being against abortion, a topic that generated controversy in the electoral campaign and led the leader of the Democratic Alliance (AD) to clarify that the topic was not on the table, Rangel said again that "this is not in question".

Regarding the European elections in June, Rangel replied that he "has no idea" what the list presented by the coalition that brings together social democrats and centrists, the Democratic Alliance (AD), will be, and that he asked Luís Montenegro to "not interfere" in the decision, since he has already been a Member of the European Parliament.

For the PS, the deputy and national secretary João Paulo Rebelo greeted the CDS on its 50 years of existence and recalled that for several years the party was "a buffer against the emergence of more extreme forces on the right", regretting that this has not happened recently.

The socialist pointed out that Nuno Melo's speech "was not particularly enthusiastic" and in some aspects a little vague, stressing that, "in contrast to the CDS, the PS already has governmental results" to present.

Regarding the initiative announced by the president of the CDS and Minister of National Defense to create a commission for the commemorations of November 25, 1975, the deputy replied that the PS recognizes that this date had "an important role" but does not compare it to April 25, 1974.

Representing Chega, deputy João Tilly wished for the growth of the CDS but "going into the game on its own and not piggybacking on another party".

The parliamentarian considered that the CDS is "a historical party that is sorely missed by the true Portuguese right and even more so by Portugal" and rejected that Chega is an extremist party, defending the thesis that the ADN and Ergue-te! are positioned to the right of his party.

Regarding the initiative to create a commission for the commemorations of November 25, 1975, Tilly expressed his agreement: "If it weren't for that, we would all be part of a central committee in a socialist republic I don't know where".

For the Liberal Initiative, the member of the executive committee Pedro Pereira stressed that liberals have differences with centrists, especially at a social level, pointing out that several CDS leaders have subscribed in recent weeks to "public discussions with the aim of rethinking and even regressing on issues of individual freedom".

The IL hopes that the CDS "will take advantage of this second life to be reborn and once again represent a conservative but democratic and moderate right", a space that "unfortunately has been occupied by populist and xenophobic forces".

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