Extracts from his speech here

Lisbon, 09 March 2021 (Lusa) – The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said today that it is the Portuguese and, above all, “those who need it most”, the reason for the solemn commitment he assured.

“The Portuguese are therefore all of them, the only raison d’être of the solemn commitment that I have just made, starting with those who need it most: the homeless, the homeless but with no adequate housing, those my age or older who live in homes or at home in solitude or guarded by formal or informal caregivers”, said the head of state, at the start of his inauguration speech for a second term, before the Assembly of the Republic.

Marcelo also dedicated the beginning of his speech to the “retired or poor pensioners”, to the “unemployed or on lay off”, to the “precarious workers and entrepreneurs” and to the children, youth, families, teachers and non-teachers “run over in two school years” , as well as health professionals and those who have lost loved ones in these pandemic times.

“A homeland is, above all, people and in it each person counts, diverse, different, unrepeatable”, he said.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said today that he is the same as he was five years ago, with independence, a spirit of commitment and stability, and that it will be so with any Government and parliamentary majority.

The President of the Republic promised today to defend a “better democracy”, with tolerance and respect for all, rejecting the “myth of pure Portuguese”, with convergence in the regime and alternative governance, and “stability without swamp “.

In his speech before the Assembly of the Republic, at the ceremony in which he took office for a second term, the head of state stated that ensuring these objectives will be his “first priority” for the next five years.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that “for the first time in democracy a President of the Republic takes office in a state of emergency” and that during the covid-19 pandemic parliament “never stopped working for the Portuguese”, and thanked the deputies ” the example of dedication to democracy, never accepting to silence it, never accepting to suspend it, never accepting to take it hostage “.

“May this be the first lesson of today: we live in democracy, we want to continue to live in democracy, and in democracy to fight the most serious pandemics. We prefer freedom to oppression, dialogue to monologue, pluralism to censorship, and we have demonstrated him holding two elections in a pandemic, one of which resulted in the rise of opposition to the Government “, he said, referring to the regional elections in the Azores, and observing:” This is democracy “.

Then, the President of the Republic defended that “better democracy is needed, where freedom is not emptied by poverty, ignorance, dependence or corruption, where inclusion, tolerance, respect for all Portuguese, in addition to the gender, creed, skin color, personal, political and social convictions should not be sacrificed to the myth of pure Portuguese, the enlightened caste, the privileged old and new “.

“We want a democracy that is republican ethics in the limitation of mandates, convergence in the regime and a clear alternative in governance, stability without swamp, justice with security, renewal that prevents rupture, anticipation that prevents decay, proximity that prevents dazzle, arrogance, abuse of power Ensuring it is the first priority for the President of the Republic for these five years “, he added.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa left this message at the end of his speech before the Assembly of the Republic, at the ceremony in which he took office for a second term as head of state.

“Portuguese, it remains to remember the obvious. I am the same as I was five years ago, I am the same as yesterday, in the exact same terms elected and re-elected to be President of all of you, with independence, a spirit of commitment and stability, proximity, affection, preference. for the excluded, honesty, convergence in the essential, alternative between two strong, sustainable and credible areas, rejection of presidential messianisms, in the exercise of power or in the anticipated nostalgia for the end of that exercise, in respect for difference and pluralism, in the construction of social justice , proud to be Portugal, to be Portuguese “, he said.

The head of state promised that “it was like this, it will be like this, with any parliamentary majority, with any government, before and after the municipal elections, before and after the parliamentary elections, before and after the European elections, before and after the 50 years of the April 25th in 2024 “.

“May the next five years be more a reason for hope than disappointment, it is our dream and it is our purpose, a year that has passed through so much mourning, so much sacrifice, so much loneliness,” he added.

Source Lousa