It is the young college students who most recognize Rui Rocha on the street

The day was not easy, with an interval of just 12 hours, Rui Rocha had to twice face his opponents: first at RTP and a few hours later on the radio. It was the last of a long marathon of debates that already takes more than a month. Result: On the first day of the official campaign, the leader of the liberal initiative, as well as his opponents, arrive at the street with the tired air of those who have been on the road for many days.

The refuge, which becomes the house of political leaders on campaign days, is the car, or, in the case of Rui Rocha, a black van van with dark glass, which do not let what is inside. Far from the indiscreet and curious looks of the media, the liberal gained breath to face one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city of Lisbon. At the time of lunch, at the door of Campo Pequeno Bull Square, Rui Rocha, accompanied by a delegation with the most well-known faces of the party (the vice-president of the Assembly of the Republic, Rodrigo Saraiva, and the parliamentary leader of IL, Mariana Leitão), a group of young people to compose the image and tail of the parade a group of drums that animated the ‘robe’, the new designation for street actions in street actions Electoral campaigns.
At lunchtime, the new avenues in Lisbon become a space of quick lunches on the various terraces that fill the tours. Liberal professionals who occupy many of the zone offices take advantage of the occasion for business lunches and prefer the description of the animation of the meeting with a political caravan. Especially because, in recent times, the parade of politicians crossing the Avenue of the Republic is what has not been missing. These are some of the reasons why, when he heard the background noise, many of the passers -by have chosen to divert their way not to intersect with Rui Rocha. Despite the deviations, the distant comments did not let, in some cases, to be encouraging to the liberal leader. « It has not done bad work, » commented a bank manager who was watching the distance to the caravan, « I hope they have a good result. »
Aware that the place was not suitable for major interruptions to daily life, Rui Rocha was passing and waving at a distance, avoiding unwanted lunchtime invasions.

Priority for young people
Avid from ‘a good doll’, image reporters and photographers fell on the leader whenever there was a two -time stopping and it almost always happened with young groups.
The street is a good place to confirm or deny perceptions and in this ‘ruined’ it was very clear that the idea that the liberal initiative is a party that particularly enthusiastic university students, has a good adherence to reality. The caravan ended in the garden of the blind arch, very close to the coach and a place privileged by the students for moments of conviviality and relaxation. That’s when Rui Rocha found more enthusiastic and available voters for two conversation fingers. Dialogues that did not vary much and that ended up almost always in the same theme: emigration.
“You’re going to Germany, I hope you are lucky and run all right. We’ll keep working here so that one day you can go back and have good job opportunities. The lucky wishes of the liberal caravan to young voters who have already decided that their future is not in the country to argue the leader to defend party proposals. « We really have to change life and accelerate Portugal, » Rui Rocha argued later at Dinner at the Alentejo House against dozens of militants and guests who joined the day’s speech, centered on tax reduction for people and companies, the creation of more housing, the economic growth and the urgency of reformist governance. In the room was the real hypothesis that the liberal initiative could enter the government already after the elections of May 18, on the Rui Rocha stage guaranteed to those present that « our proposals have already been tested in other countries and worked, contrary to what the left pangers shake. »

Rui Rocha: ‘Looking at AD, we are more ambitious’

At the end of a first long day of the campaign, Rui Rocha still found energy to give a short interview to Nascer do Sol, where he told us the most important: what he realizes on the street about the will of the Portuguese.

Have you said that these are the elections no one wants, do you feel it on the street?
I think this is a true feeling. In fact, after the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, the opinion studies showed this. But as time goes by, it is replaced by the desire to make decisions. We have to make the best decisions and I also feel it in the Portuguese, this desire for change.

But I saw him do any ceremony to bother people at lunch time?
Yes, I think we have to respect people’s space. I understand that there will be some tiredness of this practically constant political battle since the elections. In fact, I would say that since 2022, we have been living very short, very intense political cycles and I believe we have to respect this rest of people and not massacrize them with political issues.

Those who approached him were above all young people and realized that they spoke to them about their intentions for the future. What predominated in these conversations?
There were concerns about housing, low wages and I heard some decisions already made, some convinced, others with the hurt of leaving the country when they finish their university education. This is indeed a very worrying sign, because we are not able to reverse this way of losing our young people systematically. It is necessary to do much more so that young people are able to stay in Portugal. We continue to have a young unemployment of about 20%. Salaries remain low, access to housing is still very complicated and transport is also a problem that is not solved.

I realized that one of these young people with whom he crossed is his daughter…
It was occasional I was strolling with her boyfriend and coincided.

Is it part of this group of young people who think about projecting their lives outside the country?
It will now conclude the training and already has from October a solution in Portugal and I think that, at moment, will bet on staying. But it does not completely remove the possibility of leaving at some point.

I know you don’t want to talk about post-election scenarios, but if you may be part of a government solution, what is the liberal initiative book of the liberal initiative?
I believe it is easy to see that we want a low tax for people, families and companies. Looking at AD’s electoral program there are two areas for companies where we are most ambitious. We want the spills, which introduce new progressivity in the IRC, are being abolished, which are gradually disappearing. And also the autonomous taxes that affect micro and small businesses above all.

But are the international situation and the risks that exist at this time is not molding to ask for some caution?
Well, but also because the measures that were taken were far short of what should be the ambition of the country. This is the vicious cycle we have, because there is never ambition to change things. That is why we are always in this cycle of stagnation. I would say that national circumstances oblige we to have a close monitoring of what is going on, but forces us to be faster and more determined to change the basic conditions of the Portuguese economy.

And do you feel this dynamic on the street?
Yes, hence this statement that this time is liberal. It corresponds to a conviction that we have, in fact, many people, besides our consolidated electoral base, which they even consider that only the liberal initiative has the reformist capacity, ambition and meaning of change and urgency.