🇵🇹 Portugal's politics and elections 2.0

[Mike88]

So Rui Rio was re-elected after all, but by a very narrow margin, which makes sense to me. Being who I am, my interest was particularly piqued by the maps you posted - thanks as always! - I am trying to see if there are trends in where the respective candidates' support comes from, but it seems so... random. To be fair this does not surprise me since evidently in many rural municipalities it must have been a couple dozen voters at most (on which note, a real troll move would be to produce a map by freguesia). Still, any ideas?

Rio's win was actually a surprise because, even if polls showed that Rio was the favourite by the party's electorate, Rangel had such support from the party's machine and top bosses, that Rio seemed like the underdog, at least in theory. But, in reality, PSD members weren't impressed by Rangel nor his massive support from the party's machine. The margin was indeed narrow, but it's still a considerable win for Rio, who was basically alone in this whole race. Rio won because he dominated in Porto, Aveiro, Braga and Madeira. In Braga and Porto, Rangel's loss was a humiliation for the party's local structures as in these two districts, only one local party, Barcelos, supported Rio, the rest was all in Rangel's side. Rio swept Porto district and was able to win important places in Braga. Madeira, who was also in doubt, also gave Rio a strong result, even though Miguel Albuquerque, Madeira regional president, supported Rangel. But, here, Rio had the strong support of Alberto João Jardim, former Madeira President between 1977 and 2015.

By not winning these 4 districts, Rangel's path to victory was closed. Even in Lisbon, where Rangel won easily, his margin of victory wasn't enough to upset the losses he had in Porto and Aveiro.

A parish map is impossible because, if I 'm not wrong, all municipalities only had one polling station, and yeah, some municipalities only had, like, 10 or 20 votes cast.

[Mike88]

At the same time the media coverage was dominated by the PSD leadership ballot, CHEGA held their snap party congress in Viseu city:

https://twitter.com/dntwit/status/1465071764489129986?cxt=HHwWhMCizb3A_dQoAAAA

Ventura adapts Salazar's motto: "God, fatherland, family and work"

CHEGA held this weekend their snap party congress, after the Constitutional Court ruled that the last party congress, in 2020, was "illegal" for being badly organized and called. The congress was much calmer than previous CHEGA meetings, but still had some moments. In terms of the leadership, Ventura was easily "crowned" as leader with 85% of support from the delegates, but he suffered a setback as his internal opposition was able to win 24% of the seats in the party's National Council Board. The PSD leadership ballot results, that gave a surprise victory to Rui Rio, dominated heavily the congress, with Ventura and many party delegates talking over and over again about the PSD, either trashing them or "quietly wishing" some kind of deal with them. In his final speech, Ventura surprised by chanting Salazar's motto of "God, fatherland, family" and then adding to it "work", adding that for 46 years, God has been out of the political speech because of fear of Salazar or the II World War, and that he isn't afraid of talking about God even if that upsets the "system".

He went on to talk about family values, and aimed at winning 15% of the votes in the January 2022 general elections. He also talked, a lot, about the PSD founder, Francisco Sá Carneiro, and that if he was alive today, he would be proud of CHEGA. One curious moment in the congress, was the election of the sole Azores MP, José Pacheco, as Ventura's deputy. This was a surprise after Mr Pacheco's rejection of Ventura's directive to end the party's support to the PSD minority government in the Azores islands.

[Leading Political Consultant Ma Anand Sheela]

LOL

[Mike88]

LOL

My thoughts exactly. Even because Ventura basically trashed Salazar in an interview in... 2020:

"The Republic led by Dr. António de Oliveira Salazar, most of the time, also did not solve [the country's problems] and delayed us enormously in several aspects. post-World War II. Portugal could have developed extraordinarily and we were left behind, as well as the Spaniards"
(...)
"They're at ease with me because I don't miss a Republic I haven't lived through. That's not what moves me. I see Salazar as I see other figures in history. I won't judge which is better or worse: Salazar or [Álvaro ] Cunhal or Hitler or Stalin. We, in Portugal, in order to make real progress in the political question, we have to leave behind the ghosts of the past"
(...)

Classic Ventura

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

To be honest I am not sure what is worse between trying to make neo-Salazarism real to trigger the libs or Ventura's assertion that Sá Carneiro would be proud of CHEGA. Either way, seeing also how Pacheco outmanoeuvered his leader so thoroughly, I can only add myself to the chorus of "LOL".

[crals]

I'm looking forward to the mess that Chega's upcoming parliamentary group will be. Expecting half of their MPs to leave the party within a year.

[Mike88]

I'm looking forward to the mess that Chega's upcoming parliamentary group will be. Expecting half of their MPs to leave the party within a year.

If the local elections are a forecast, then CHEGA will definitely lose several MPs after the elections. They have already lost one councillor, several municipal assembly members and there are several local parties in turmoil, not to mention the mess in the Azores. More in here:

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1464655948497231872

The post-local elections of Chega is an empty nightmare

[Mike88]

President Marcelo vetoes the Euthanasia legalization bill:

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1465458692661338119?cxt=HHwWjoCzkdW6rdYoAAAA

Euthanasia: President vetoes euthanasia law, which only returns to Parliament after elections

President Marcelo has vetoed the new Euthanasia bill, approved by Parliament about four weeks ago. After the first draft was ruled as unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, President Marcelo refuses to sign the new bill and sends it back to Parliament. In his decision, Marcelo advises Parliament to make some changes: clarify the expression "incurable disease", if it means just a fatal illness or just a serious one; and the President also wants Parliament to reconsider the exclusion of "fatal disease" in the current draft, compared with the 1st draft earlier this year. The President fears that the new draft could increase the range of situations where Euthanasia would be allowed. About his second point, regarding the "fatal disease" exclusion from the bill, Marcelo asks if this "radical viewpoint corresponds to the dominant sentiment in Portuguese society".

This veto will be analysed by the new Parliament to be elected on January 30, 2022, as President Marcelo is expected to sign the dissolution papers in the next few days.

[Mike88]

Official results of the 2021 PSD leadership ballot:

52.4% Rui Rio (18,852)
47.6% Paulo Rangel (17,106)

  1.4% Blank/Invalid ballots (518)

78.2% Turnout (36,476)

[Mike88]

Party lists for the general elections:

Parties are starting to discuss the composition of the lists to the 30 January general elections. So far, BE, CDU and Livre have presented some headlists names. PS and PSD are still discussing the lists, and news about them are only expected for next week. CDS, CHEGA, PAN and IL are also expected to announce names in the next few days. So far, the headlist candidates are the following:

Lelt Bloc (BE)

Azores: Jéssica Pacheco
Aveiro: Moisés Ferreira, current MP;
Beja: José Esteves;
Braga: José Maria Cardoso, current MP
Braganza: André Xavier Ferreira
Castelo Branco: Cristina Guedes
Coimbra: José Manuel Pureza, current MP
Évora: Bruno Martins
Faro: José Gusmão, current MEP;
Guarda: Pedro Cardoso
Leiria: Ricardo Vicente, current MP;
Lisbon: Mariana Mortágua, current MP;
Madeira: Luísa Santos
Portalegre: Cecília Carrilho
Porto: Catarina Martins, BE leader and current MP;
Santarém: Fabíola Cardoso, current MP
Setúbal: Joana Mortágua, Almada councillor and current MP;
Viana do Castelo: Luís Louro
Vila Real: Enara Teixeira
Viseu: Manuela Antunes
Europe: Maria Teresa Soares
Outside Europe: Miguel Heleno

During the approval of BE's lists, there were some heated disagreements because of the non inclusion of some names proposed by local party branches, which led to some party members refusing to vote on the lists and leaving the meeting.

Unitary Democratic Coalition PCP-PEV (CDU)

Azores: Judite Barros
Aveiro: Adelino Nunes
Beja: João Dias, current MP;
Braga: Torcato Ribeiro
Braganza: Joana Monteiro
Castelo Branco: Jorge Fael
Coimbra: Manuel Pires da Rocha
Évora: João Oliveira, PCP caucus leader, current MP;
Faro: Catarina Marques
Guarda: André Santos
Leiria: Heloísa Apolónia, PEV leader;
Lisbon: Jerónimo de Sousa, PCP leader and current MP;
Madeira: Herlanda Amado
Portalegre: Helena Neves
Porto: Diana Ferreira, current MP;
Santarém: António Filipe, current MP
Setúbal: Paula Santos, current MP;
Viana do Castelo: Joaquim Celestino
Vila Real: José Miguel Fernandes
Viseu: Alexandre Hoffmann Castela
Europe: Joana de Abreu Carvalho
Outside Europe: Dulce Kurtenbach

Livre (L)

Azores: José Azevedo
Aveiro: Joana Filipe
Beja: João Aiveca Caseiro
Braga: Teresa Mota
Castelo Branco: Stela Lourenço
Coimbra: Rui Mamede
Évora: Glória Franco
Faro: Marta Setúbal
Guarda: Margarida Bordalo
Leiria: Filipe Honório
Lisbon: Rui Tavares, Livre leader and Lisbon councillor;
Madeira: Tiago Camacho
Portalegre: Francisco Biscainho
Porto: Jorge Pinto
Santarém: Sandro Miguel Santos
Setúbal: Paulo Muacho
Viana do Castelo: Filipe Faro da Costa
Vila Real: João Luís Silva
Viseu: Miguel Won
Europe: Natércia Rodrigues Lopes
Outside Europe: Geiziely Fernandes

[Mike88]

DA office accuses the chauffeur of Interior minister Eduardo Cabrita of negligent homicide for the deadly run over of a road worker last July:

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1466739260774662146

Cabrita driver accused of negligent homicide. Car was going at 166 km per hour

The controversy that started last July, when a road worker was run over by the official car of minister Eduardo Cabrita, with the minister as a passenger when the accident happened, had another chapter today. The DA office announced that they are going to accuse the chauffeur of the minister of negligent homicide for run over of the road worker. The DA says that the car was going at 166 km/h (103 miles/h), which violated the law, plus violated other rules in the road code. The worker died and there was a lot of controversy because of the way the minister handled the whole situation, and how the family of the victim was treated by the government. This story has had a lot of media coverage and has put enormous pressure under Mr Cabrita, but also on PM Costa. When asked by reporters about the accusation, Mr Cabrita said he was only a passenger in the car, and that this is just the rule of law working.

The lawyers of the family of the victim are also considering asking for fact-finding in the lawsuit, to see if there's any complicity of minister Eduardo Cabrita in the accident.

[Mike88]

DA office accuses the chauffeur of Interior minister Eduardo Cabrita of negligent homicide for the deadly run over of a road worker last July:

He's out: Eduardo Cabrita has resigned from the government.

https://twitter.com/cnnportugal/status/1466874999843835911

The minister of Internal Affairs asked the prime minister to resign this Friday, the day that the accusation of negligent homicide of the driver who was driving Eduardo Cabrita was known when, in June, there was an accident on the A6 that killed a man.

In a statement to the press, Cabrita said he was resigning from the government because he doesn't want this case to hurt the government nor the PS chances in the January 30 general elections, adding that only the "loyalty and friendship" to the PM made him continued as minister. He said he's sorry about this whole tragedy and is also sorry that many people are using this tragedy as a political weapon.

[Mike88]

PM Costa has chosen Francisca Van Dunem, Justice Minister, as the successor of Eduardo Cabrita as Interior Minister. She will accumulate this post with her current one.

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1466885702000467968

Francisca van Dunem accumulates Internal Administration folder

She will accumulate both posts until the next government is formed, after the 30 January elections. Her swearing in is expected tomorrow at 3pm, on the Presidential Palace.

[Mike88]

2022 general election lists: PSD, CDS and PPM to run in a coalition in the Azores islands.

https://twitter.com/Jornalacores9/status/1466849628507324416

PSD, CDS-PP, PPM compete in pre-electoral coalition in the Azores

The regional parties of PSD, CDS and PPM will contest the 30 January general election in a coalition called "Democratic Alliance" (AD), the same name of the successful nationwide coalition between the same parties in the late 70's, early 80's. Only the PSD will have eligible seats, the first 3 seats.

So, Madeira and the Azores will have PSD-CDS coalitions, adding PPM in the Azores, for the general elections. In the mainland, Rui Rio and CDS have been "toying" with the idea of a nationwide PSD-CDS coalition, very welcomed by the CDS, but the idea isn't that supported in the PSD and even within Rio's leadership team some say it would just "charity". Rio is still undecided on a possible coalition, but time is running out to negotiate seats, the deadline is 20 December, and the most likely is PSD and CDS running alone in the mainland.

[Mike88]

2022 general elections: President Marcelo signs the dissolution papers.

President Marcelo has signed, this Sunday morning, the Parliament dissolution papers and officially called an election for 30 January 2022.

[Mike88]

More controversy surrounding former minister Eduardo Cabrita: Key witness that cleared the minister of any wrongdoing in the accident wasn't in the car with the minister, unlike what is written in the DA accusation.

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1467861680629637122

Witness that clears Eduardo Cabrita was not in the same car as the minister

The controversy regarding the role of former Interior minister Eduardo Cabrita in the deadly run over of a road worker in July, had another chapter today. The media is reporting a grave error in the DA office accusation as it's being revealed that the key witness that cleared the minister of any wrongdoing, a police officer, wasn't in the car with the minister but rather in a second car behind the official ministerial car. The prosecution process clearly says that only four people were in the minister's car, while the DA accusation says the opposite, five people were in the car.

Law experts are suggesting that this error could invalidate the whole accusation and send the prosecution back to square one. This is a massive disaster for the DA office. What a mess.

[Mike88]

A Lisbon Court has sentenced CHEGA leader André Ventura to apologize to a family he called "thugs" in a live debate on TV. The Court is forcing Ventura to publicly apologize, and retract his attack, to a family that lives in the Jamaica neighborhood, a very poor neighborhood in Seixal city, and has to publish his apology in the media outlets that originally published the story plus in CHEGA's social media platforms. He and his party cannot give any future comments about this family which could be sanctioned by 5,000 euros by each infraction. The Court also decided that for each day the apology isn't published in CHEGA's social media platform, the party has to pay a daily 500 euros fine. Ventura and CHEGA, however, will appeal this ruling.

Ventura lost his appeal in the Supreme Court: High Court upholds the lower court ruling and accuses Ventura and CHEGA of racial segregation:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1467944946959196161

Supreme condemns André Ventura and Chega for racial segregation

The Supreme Court has upheld the 2021 May ruling of a lower ruling Lisbon court that demanded Ventura and CHEGA to apologize for the attack Ventura made to a family from Jamaica neighborhood, Seixal. The Court also definitely condemns Ventura and CHEGA of racial segregation, and they also ruled that Ventura is barred from appealing again. Reacting to the ruling, Ventura says he respects the Court's ruling, but adds that it is unfair, that he will not change his way of being in public, and that he would make the same remarks again.

[Mike88]

Party lists for the general elections: PSD approves their lists in a very tense meeting and rejects a joint coalition with CDS.

The PSD held, in Évora city, a National Council meeting to discuss and approve the party's lists for the January 30 general elections. Before the meeting, the PSD leadership also decided to reject a possible joint coalition with CDS, an idea that Rio had been toying for a while. The meeting itself, of the National Council, was very, very tense as many PSD councillors were deeply upset, and angry, with Rio's picks for the lists. Rio decided to remove from the lists several local party leaders that changed their support from him to Rangel in the 27 November leadership ballot, and picked only people close to him, or that maintained neutral in the race. During the meeting, several Rangel supporters accused Rio of being a "little dictator", of persuing a "purge" and of being "mediocre". In the end, the lists were approved with 67 votes in favour (71%) and 21 against (22%). There were also 6 abstentions.

The headlist candidates for each district are the following:

Azores: Paulo Moniz, current MP;
Aveiro: António Topa Gomes
Beja: Henrique Silvestre
Braga: André Coelho Lima, current MP;
Braganza: Adão Silva, PSD caucus leader;
Castelo Branco: Cláudia André, current MP;
Coimbra: Mónica Quintela, current MP;
Évora: Sónia Ramos, councillor in Estremoz city;
Faro: Luís Gomes, former mayor of Vila Real de Santo António;
Guarda: Gustavo Duarte, former mayor of Vila Nova de Foz Côa;
Leiria: Paulo Mota Pinto;
Lisbon: Ricardo Batista Leite, current MP and councillor in Sintra city;
Madeira: Sérgio Marques, current MP;
Portalegre: João Pedro Luís
Porto: Sofia Matos, current MP;*
Santarém: Isaura Morais, current MP
Setúbal: Nuno Carvalho, current MP;
Viana do Castelo: Jorge Mendes, current MP;
Vila Real: Artur Soveral de Andrade
Viseu: Hugo Carvalho, current MP;
Europe: Maria Ester Vargas
Outside Europe: Maló de Abreu, current MP;

* PSD leader Rui Rio is the nº2 candidate for Porto district, just like in 2019: Top 5 Porto district list: (40 to elect)

1. Sofia Matos
2. Rui Rio, PSD leader;
3. Paulo Rios de Oliveira, current MP;
4. Catarina Rocha Ferreira, current MP;
5. Afonso Oliveira, current MP;

Top 5 Lisbon district: (48 to elect)

1. Ricardo Baptista Leite
2. José Silvano, PSD general-secretary and current MP;
3. Isabel Meireles, PSD deputy leader and current MP;
4. Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, PSD economic head;
5. Duarte Pacheco, Deputy Speaker;

[Mike88]

2022 general elections: No changes in the distribution of seats by district.

The seat distribution by district suffered no changes compared with 2019. The Electoral Commission presented the official distribution of seats last Monday. Also, 10,821,244 voters will be registered to vote, 9,299,454 in Portugal alone, and 1,521,790 overseas. The final seat presentation by district is the following:

    5 Azores
  16 Aveiro
    3 Beja
  19 Braga
    3 Braganza
    4 Castelo Branco
    9 Coimbra
    3 Évora
    9 Faro
    3 Guarda
  10 Leiria
  48 Lisbon
    6 Madeira
    2 Portalegre
  40 Porto
    9 Santarém
  18 Setúbal
    6 Viana do Castelo
    5 Vila Real
    8 Viseu
    2 Europe
    2 Outside Europe

230 Total

The method used to elect MPs is the D'hondt method and there's no official threshold to win seats.

[Mike88]

Party lists for the general elections: PAN unveils head-list candidates.

People-Animals-Nature (PAN)

Aveiro: Rui Alvarenga
Beja: Luís Vicente
Braga: Rafael Pinto
Braganza: Octávio Pires
Castelo Branco: Amália Cardoso
Coimbra: João Pedro Costa
Faro: Ana Poeta
Leiria: Liliana Vieira
Lisbon: Inês de Sousa Real, PAN leader;
Madeira: Joaquim Sousa
Portalegre: Jorge Alcobia
Porto: Bebiana Cunha, PAN caucus leader;
Santarém: Mónica Silva
Setúbal: Vítor Pinto
Viana do Castelo: Miguel Queirós
Vila Real: José Castro
Viseu: Carolina Almeida

Looking at the list, it seems that PAN will not be running candidates in Azores, Évora, Guarda and the overseas constituencies of Europe and Outside Europe.

Of the main parties, PS, CDS, CHEGA and IL are yet to unveil their lists.

[Mike88]

Political update:

The political scene has been rather quiet in the last few days, with the pandemic having more coverage currently. However, this weekend, the Liberal Initiative (IL) and Livre held their party congresses:

- The Liberals (IL) congress, which reelected João Cotrim Figueiredo as leader with 94% of the delegates votes, was a quiet one with no major stories from it. In his speech, Cotrim Figueiredo, aimed at winning more than 4.5% of the votes in the general election and elect more than 4 MPs. He targeted the PS as their clear rivals, and are open in supporting a PSD led government, but now willing to support or endorse PS-PSD deals;

- Livre also held their congress. It was very low profile event, as the party has basically collapsed according to polling. Rui Tavares will be the main candidate for the party, in 2019 Joacine Katar Moreira was the main candidate, and he said that a vote for Livre is a "vote for certainty" as, he said, the party will never aligned with the rightwing and is willing to support a broad leftwing deal after the elections. However, Livre's abysmal polling numbers has made TV networks to remove them from the TV debates, and Livre has filed a lawsuit against the networks in order to be on the debates.

Tomorrow, 13 December, the PS is expected to approve their list of candidates for the elections. The main story about these lists is the inclusion of the former mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina, defeated last September, in the top names for Lisbon. Some suggest that this may be an indication that Medina may take part in a future Costa cabinet after the elections.

Next weekend, the PSD will hold their party congress in Santa Maria da Feira, Aveiro district.

[Mike88]

Tomorrow, 13 December, the PS is expected to approve their list of candidates for the elections. The main story about these lists is the inclusion of the former mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina, defeated last September, in the top names for Lisbon. Some suggest that this may be an indication that Medina may take part in a future Costa cabinet after the elections.

PS approves their lists for the 30 January general elections. The head-list candidates, by district, are the following:

Azores: Francisco César
Aveiro: Pedro Nuno Santos, Infrastructure minister;
Beja: Pedro Carmo, current MP;
Braga: José Luís Carneiro, PS deputy secretary-general anc current MP;
Braganza: João Sobrinho Teixeira, Secretary for Science and Technology;
Castelo Branco: Ana Abrunhosa, Territorial Cohesion minister;
Coimbra: Marta Temido, Health minister;
Évora: Capoulas Santos, former Agriculture minister and current MP;
Faro: Jamila Madeira, current MP
Guarda: Ana Mendes Godinho, Labour and Social Security minister;
Leiria: António Lacerda Sales, Health secretary;
Lisbon: António Costa, PS leader and PM;
Madeira: Carlos Pereira, current MP;
Portalegre: Ricardo Pinheiro, Planning secretary;
Porto: Alexandre Quintanilha, current MP;
Santarém: Alexandra Leitão, Public Services minister;
Setúbal: Ana Catarina Mendes, PS caucus leader;
Viana do Castelo: Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, Education minister;
Vila Real: Francisco Rocha
Viseu: João Azevedo, current MP
Europe: Paulo Pisco, current MP
Outside Europe: Augusto Santos Silva, Foreign Affairs minister;

The top six names in the Lisbon list: (48 to elect in Lisbon district)

1. António Costa;
2. Edite Estrela, Deputy Speaker;
3. Mariana Vieira da Silva, Minister of the Premiership;
4. Duarte Cordeiro, Parliamentary Affairs secretary;
5. Fernando Medina, former mayor Lisbon;
6. Graça Fonseca, Culture minister;

Top 6 in Porto district list: (40 to elect)

1. Alexandre Quintanilha
2. Rosário Gamboa, current MP;
3. Matos Fernandes, Environment minister;
4. Isabel Oneto, former Interior secretary and current MP;
5. João Paulo Correia, Deputy PS caucus leader;
6. Ana Paula Bernardo, UGT union deputy secretary;

According to the media, Edite Estrela, seems to be the likely PS candidate for the office of Speaker of Parliament, to be elected after the elections.

[Mike88]

2022 election campaign: There will be 36 debates, so far, between parties.

The 3 main TV networks, RTP, SIC and TVI, agreed to include Livre in the debates after the party started a legal action against the networks. Therefore, the total number of debates will reach 36, in which they will consist of one-on-one debates between the leaders of the parties that won seats in 2019: PS, PSD, BE, CDU, CDS, PAN, CHEGA, IL and Livre. A debate between all parties could also happen. The debate calendar is expected to be released in the next few days.

[Oryxslayer]

2022 election campaign: There will be 36 debates, so far, between parties.

WTF, that can't be normal...right? Especially for a campaign of a few weeks. That number would devalue all but the debate between PSD and PS.

[Mike88]

2022 election campaign: There will be 36 debates, so far, between parties.

WTF, that can't be normal...right? Especially for a campaign of a few weeks. That number would devalue all but the debate between PSD and PS.

It's has become a bit normal, and yeah, it removes importance from the majority of debates and the real attention is only given at just a few debates. This is because there's a tradition in Portuguese politics, since the 90's, of having one-on-one debates between party leaders. It's a way to give equal opportunity to all parties, either small or big. This worked fine when there were just 4 or 5 parties in Parliament, but now with 9 different parties it becomes complicated.

Some of these debates will probably not even be broadcast in the main channels of the 3 major networks, but rather in their 24 news channels: SIC Notícias, RTP3 and CNN Portugal. Of course, the main debate is the PS vs PSD one, but the PS vs BE and CDU could be interesting and of course Ventura can always create a scene in each debate he participates. I don't know if there will also be a radio debate, as it happened in 2015 and 2019.

Plus, because of Covid, campaign events, ralies and so on, will probably be very limited and debates may be the only way for parties to get out their messages.