On the fourth day of his Open Presidency in Portugal’s central areas – devastated by the winter storms – António José Seguro has been demonstrating how there is no need for ‘noise’ and ‘bluster’ to get things done.
The country’s new head of state is showing, by the day, how Portugal is in a new era of leadership – one that doesn’t seek media headlines, but which focuses on ‘influence behind the scenes’.
In Batalha, where he was joined by prime minister Luís Montenegro, the president’s efforts were described as “very positive (…) a constructive influence” – even though he has not been without criticism.
“We are very good at improvising”, Seguro told reporters in Ferreira do Zêzere. “But the state can respond in a more efficient, effective manner.
“A first conclusion of this open presidency is that, at the very least, we must stop promising people that problems will be resolved urgently, because apparently it is impossible to resolve problems urgently. Yes, we all have to draw very many lessons, both the private sector and the state, and in particular the state, from this whole process,” he said later in Penela, where the IC3 highway still remains closed.
Today, President Seguro is in Leiria – the district worst affected by the first storm to ravage the centre on January 28, Storm Kristin. He will be visiting a number of communities, and businesses, as well as the local fire brigade, whose fire station suffered considerable damages.
Leiria’s tally of damages has been calculated at over a billion euros (that is taking into account private/ businesses’ and council equipment damages) – and there are still thousands of ‘issues’ pending. President Seguro remarked yesterday that there is an inventory of around one billion euros in state support that should be paid out to families nationally, “only that just a third of these payments have been made. I am therefore calling in the context that deadlines are not being met, for this to change”, both on a private and state level.
It is not an easy call, nor one that will instantly change situations on the ground – but the fact that the president has been out among communities affected, and listened to many people’s problems and points of view, has left residents more positive than they were before.
Quizzed on ‘international matters’ as he continues in this Open Presidency initiative (which ends tomorrow), Seguro has also shown his dogged focus on Portugal. “Wars are not the solution,” he told reporters. “They do not resolve conflicts. They make them worse. It is only diplomacy and dialogue that finds solutions so that people can live in peace. And we need to live in peace. Enough of all the bad news!”
