Luís Montenegro

The days of the week are spent in a whirl of activity, with every moment accounted for, yet even so, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, he managed to find some time to answer our questions, in this 21st anniversary issue of the magazine. Luís Montenegro, president of the PSD, spoke to us about the beauty of human life, which, in his eyes, always has «many new emotions to add to the good and not so good emotions that we have already accumulated in the past». He also said that he wanted to accomplish the mission of leading the opposition, «with the aim of establishing a solid and mobilising government alternative, and of winning the next elections».  With regard to the state budget he made mention to the tax burden imposed on companies and stated that «we are going through a cycle of impoverishment». He spoke of the capacity and knowledge that Pedro Passos Coelho has to «serve Portugal or Europe at the highest level» and referred to the importance that Brazil has in the «world economic and ecological context». As leader of the PSD, he wants to become «a winning, credible and majority alternative that brings new hope to Portugal». He has also had one of the most incredible experiences with the «Feel Portugal». programme, which takes him to «feel and meet so many people from all over the country». Luís is a father and in this role, he says he tries to pass on to his children «the values of work, honesty, tolerance and solidarity», and he concludes that «a father’s love cannot be described, it is felt.»

It's not long now before you turn 50. What has marked you most personally in these years and what do you wish for the next 50?
They are nigh-on 50 years of learning new things every day. The greatest beauty of human life, in my view, is that there are always many new emotions to add to the good and not so good ones we have already accumulated in the past. This wealth of experiences, the search for happiness that we aspire to and that we should help to bring to others, is my greatest desire. The rest is instrumental in this purpose.

Was practising law what you always wanted to do? What is the state of the law in Portugal?
Sure enough, from a very young age I found my vocation and I accomplished it. Law schools in Portugal are generally good and there are many career opportunities. Law, in addition to legal science stricto sensu, is a transversal area on whose principles much of our social, civic and political organisation is based. I believe that this secular basis is still maintained. In the case of law, which is my core occupation, the challenges are enormous for those starting out, and the client relationship paradigm has changed radically over the last 30 years, as a result of the communication and digital transformation. 

When exactly did your life as an MP start? 
I was elected for the first time on March 17, 2002 and took office on April 05 of that year. I held the office 16 years in a row and left of my own accord on April 05, 2018. The story has several chapters, but, in essence, I became a councillor at the age of 20 and, at the age of 24, I was already chairman of the PSD in Espinho. Things were happening and I «arrived» in parliament at the age of 29, and not through the ‘Social Democratic Youth’ (JSD). Curiously, I was younger than most of the JSD deputies, which, if I am not mistaken, were 12 of the 105 PSD MPs at the time. 

You were president of the PSD parliamentary group between 2011 and 2017. How would you describe those six years? 
Today I can say that they were very hard and challenging years that required a great deal of spirit of sacrifice, patriotism and courage. I say this without pretentiousness. In the first phase, 2011-2015, we were in government and we had to ‘kick out’ the Troika that the previous government had brought in. From 2015 to 2017, we went into opposition, despite having won the elections, and lived with the so-called Geringonça coalition. History is now revealing that the Geringonça was a step backwards in life, not to say even an economic and social tragedy for Portugal. The years from 2015 to 2019 were lost years, in which we could have transformed the country to strengthen it for the future and we had a government that reversed structural reforms and didn’t nothing more than squander what it had inherited and the opportunities available to it. All to save a leader and return a power-hungry party machine to government.

« History is now revealing that the Geringonça was a step backwards in life, not to say even an economic and social tragedy for Portugal»

You are currently the president of the PSD. Did you always envision getting here and even one day becoming the prime minister of Portugal?
That idea, I confess, only took shape in my head in 2017. When Pedro Passos Coelho left, many people wanted me to succeed him. But I hadn’t prepared myself personally to take on that responsibility and I also understood that, at that time, it was a better idea to bring in someone less connected to the previous cycle. Afterwards, as we all know, I disagreed directly and loyally with the strategy followed in the PSD and I assumed the consequences that ensued and brought me here. It was a matter of conviction, nothing about shifting attention. Now, I will fulfil the mission of leading the opposition with the aim of establishing a solid and mobilising government alternative and of winning the next elections in order to have a bolder, more ambitious and more transformative and reformist governance.

In 2011, after Pedro Passos Coelho’s victory in the general election, you were elected president of the PSD parliamentary bench. How do you describe that time and how do you look at the role played by the party president at the time? 
That time was of the very greatest complexity. We inherited a bankrupt nation! Pedro Passos Coelho was a patriot. Portugal owes him a great deal. His courage and uprightness were exceptional. And, contrary to what many say, he was always socially aware. The weakest were always better protected, in a context of adversity and recession that we did not create. In 2015, we left behind a country that was growing, which had lowered the deficit from 11.2% to 3%, restoring and recovering lost income, with unemployment falling and exports greater than imports.

How would you see Passos Coelho’s return to the national political scene?
He is an asset who has the skills and knowledge to serve Portugal or Europe at the highest level and in various areas, from academia to politics, from the economy to national and international associations. 

«Pedro Passos Coelho was a patriot. Portugal owes him a great deal»

In 2015, you remained on the parliamentary bench, but then, with the PSD-CDS coalition, however, the PS, allied to the left, took power. What feeling did you have at that time?
I have said it before. The country had a prime minister it did not choose, a political programme it did not vote for, and from 2015 to 2019 we lost time and opportunities. A country that wants to be in the leading pack of Europe cannot govern thinking about the day to day. It must anticipate and build the future! 

In 2017, you announced your departure from parliament. What made you take this decision? 
The combination of strategic divergences that I voiced at the convention at that time, opening up the way for new names to come forth and the call of my family and professional life, which had suffered greatly from my absence. 

Almost three years later, in 2020, you ran for the leadership of the PSD. What went wrong for you be defeated by Rui Rio?
I was missing just over 1500 votes...! These things always have a context and circumstances. I know why it happened, there were several factors, but at this moment, it’s all irrelevant. 

This year, the party leader, Rui Rio, left, and you announced your candidacy again, and in May this year you took on the presidency of the PSD. What goals have you set for this new turnaround in the party?
To believe! To believe in the regeneration of the PSD, to believe in Portugal and in the Portuguese, to believe that we are capable of being the best among the best in many activities. We can and must take advantage of our qualifications and potential, we can and must be more innovative and enterprising. We can and we must be more productive and create more wealth to generate resources capable of building a fairer, freer society with truly equal opportunities.

«In 2015, we left behind a country that was growing, which had lowered the deficit from 11.2% to 3%»

Since taking office, you have spent much of your time visiting people and municipalities that often seem to be forgotten by politicians. How will this contact with the people benefit you in the future? 
It has been a fantastic experience of human, political and civic enrichment. Feeling and meeting so many people spread throughout the territory helps a lot in the task of scrutinising and reviewing the work of the government and enables us to be more competent and accurate in the choices we will have to make in the future, when we present ourselves to govern Portugal. 

And how critical are you of the state budget?
We are living in a cycle of impoverishment. People, families, companies and institutions pay more and more taxes and the public services provided by the state are increasingly far from meeting the needs. Economically, we grow in cumulative terms, from 2016 to 2021, by 7.1%, when the cohesion countries of the European Union grew by an average of 18.4%. We are ranked 21 in Europe with the per capita income at 27. We are increasingly lagging behind, watching the development of the East and the relocation of investment and labour to other geographies. The passivity and immobility of this government have aggravated the setbacks of recent years, and the 2023 state budget is yet another expression of this.

What strategy are you implementing to confront the socialist government?
Firmness and demandingness in opposition. Openness, reflection and ambition in the design of a winning, credible and majority alternative that brings new hope to Portugal. 


«Brazil is extremely important in the world economic and ecological context, and it is extremely important within the Portuguese-speaking world, whose motherland is Portugal»


You have almost three years until the general elections. Are you anxious about it?Personally, I don’t have any anxiety. It is the Portuguese people who are beginning to be anxious about having a new government, and they have many reasons for this. The Portuguese people gave an absolute majority to the PS, they gave the majority of municipal councils and parish councils to the PS, more members of the European Parliament to the PS and now they are rightly saying that the PS is undervaluing the trust it received. The PS is confusing the party with the state. The PS is failing the country.

As an observer of world politics, what do you think Lula da Silva’s government in Brazil will be like? Will it affect world politics in the coming years?
First of all, I hope that the Brazilian people will be reconciled from a division that was literally split down the middle. Secondly, I do not want the government to be a factional one, either from an institutional or a programmatic point of view. Brazil is extremely important in the world economic and ecological context, and it is extremely important within the Portuguese-speaking world, whose motherland is Portugal. 

How is Luís Montenegro, the father?
The best thing is to ask my children..., but I try to be the most pedagogical in passing on the values of work, honesty, tolerance and solidarity. The characteristic I try to instil in them the most, because it is the one I appreciate the most, is that they are always capable of putting themselves in other people’s shoes. Apart from that, we do many things together, starting with the love of sports that we share and often practice, although golf is not yet a sport they have got into. In short, a father’s love cannot be described, it can be felt. And they give me that privilege.