Traditional party allegiances are being shunned as alternatives to the political establishment continue to rise.
The businessman and former Socialist Member of Parliament Henrique Neto, has announced that he will be standing as a candidate in the Portuguese presidential elections as an independent candidate not linked to any of the three main parties.
In a speech made to supporters, he made it clear that there was no single answer to the questions Portugal needs to face and that both sides of the political spectrum need to be
utilised.
He said: “Portugal has problems that have solutions from the left but it would be wrong to overlook how many national problems have solutions from the right (…). Throughout the campaign, I shall present positions on the major national problems, beginning with a strategic vision” before adding that his solutions would come from both sides of the political divide.
Neto also made a point of emphasising the independence of his campaign, a deliberate choice he stated as Portuguese parties were “dominated by groups organised from within.”
Meanwhile, the Nós Cidadãos movement has handed in an official application to become a new political party, backed by some 8,500 signatures.
The movement spokesman, Mendo Henrique, said that the group intends to stand candidates in the autumn legislative elections and hopes to capitalise on the voters who would usually not vote or feel “indignant” at the policies implemented by recent governments and “want to change the country”.
Several new political parties have been constituted in recent months, amid growing disenchantment among voters with the established parties and the Nós Cidadãos having considerable support with Mendo Henrique stating that over the past few months the group had gathered more than 11,000 signatures but “we like to do things property and we’ve handed in about 8,500,” he told journalists, noting that just 7,500 are necessary to established a political party.