2024-01-06 08:13:06
António Costa leaves the leadership of the PS with the conviction that “it is possible to do better”. “But there is one thing they can be sure of: only the PS will do better than the PS”. The 24th PS Congress was assured: only Pedro Nuno Santos and the “new generation” he represents will be able to do better than Costa himself.
“They may have knocked me down, but they didn’t defeat me. They may have overthrown the new Government, but they did not defeat the PS. The PS is here, strong, alive, rejuvenating with new energy, new leadership”, he stated in the final phase of the speech, lasting practically half an hour.
In his farewell as general secretary of the PS, Costa thanked him for the “trust” and “support” he always had from the party. “Governing is not just good things. They are also difficult, hard things. You suffer too. But you suffer with joy when you enjoy what you are doing.”
And he concluded: “They gave me support in all the moments of great political crisis that we had to face. I am sure that the support they gave me is what they will give to Pedro Nuno Santos.”
The secret revealed by Costa
It was when he improvised a little that António Costa was able to better engage the audience. He promised them a secret. And the 24th PS Congress listened to it. He spoke of correct accounts, achieved despite the increase in salaries criticized by the right.
“We managed to raise salaries and the devil didn’t come, didn’t come and didn’t come.” Effusive. Break. A smile takes over António Costa’s face. “I’m going to tell you a secret. The devil did not come for a very simple reason: because the devil is the right and the Portuguese did not return power to the right.”
No personal laurels. It’s time for Pedro Nuno Santos, who “deserves it”
On his way out, Costa leaves without wanting personal laurels. “They were victories for the PS, not for António Costa.” “These years were not António Costa’s years. These were the years of the PS, of a great team.” He reinforced this by saying that “the PS is greater than the sum of all of us”, that the Portuguese never lacked “in the most difficult moments”.
The party now remains “united around the new leadership”, of Pedro Nuno Santos, to whom Costa wished “from the bottom of his heart all the happiness in the world, the greatest happiness, political and personal”. “You deserve Pedro Nuno. Go ahead, let’s move forward, let’s win the next elections.”
A mobilizing message for the one who will be the “first prime minister born after the April Revolution”. “This is a sign of the significance of what a 50-year-old party is, with a long history of serving Portugal and the Portuguese.”
Messages for everyone: even for the President
Before the hug that confirmed the testimony, Costa did not spare any messages. Left, right and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
On the left, he warned that the PS that signed the 2015 agreements for the creation of the contraption is “the same one” that in 1975 overturned the “totalitarian drift” of the revolution. But, today, with renewed certainty: “Walls will never again exist on the Portuguese left.”
On the right, especially the PSD, there were several moments of barbs. In decentralization, where the PS did not have “the partner” necessary to move forward with such a reform. In social security because, despite the right saying it was “bankrupt”, “we increased sustainability in 40 years”. And in the free daycare network, which will be further expanded in October “if the right doesn’t come and undo what is being done”. But still recognizing that young people’s salaries are still not where they should be: “unlike others who told you to emigrate, we fight for them to stay among us”.
He also left comments to the President of the Republic. Because Marcelo “didn’t let us move forward with regionalization”. And remembering that the PS achieved the new framework for professional orders, despite the “President’s veto”.
Job done (did you hear a little about it?)
Despite positioning the achievements as belonging to the party, Costa did not fail to remember the work done. And to define priorities for whoever comes next: “The greatest cause of our time is the fight against climate change.”
“We embraced new causes, but we did not forget the old causes: the greatest of all, freedom”, giving as an example gender self-determination, surrogacy or medically assisted death. Today there is more freedom in the country than there was before.”
In farewell, Costa admitted that there is still a lot to do. “Are there problems? Of course there are problems. But that’s why we’re here. It is the PS that will solve the problems.”
Costa took to the stage rocking the song “With a sparkle in your eyes”. But it was the liquid in his eyes that he tried to contain in the final phase of his speech. After 20 congresses, he said that “it is not the time” to get emotional. He distributed thanks, including to his wife, who “deserves to be an honorary member of the JS”.
Today, I certainly learned a little about it.
By Wilson Ledo
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