“At the moment, I strictly do not see any scenario that would force me to return to politics,” André Silva told the Lusa news agency a few days before leaving the leadership of the organization People-Animals-Nature, as well as parliament.

Despite the fact that he learned to “never say never and never say always”, the official said that “at the moment there is no return.”

“And therefore there is no reason to return, because, as I have already mentioned, there was a period of confirmation and consolidation of the party, which has been accumulating success and growth over the years,” he stressed, also defending that PAN “has all the conditions and all the time. “Continue on my way” and “the path of growth.” As for Ines Sousa Real, the only candidate for the position of official representative at the VIII PAN Congress to be held this weekend in Tomar, André Silva called her “a hardworking person, committed to party values ​​and committed to the values ​​of the party,” and noted that the Parliamentary Leader was a member of the leadership of the party “for many years”, which is a “natural continuity”.

And he defended that he had “all the conditions for PAN to continue on its path and the path of success.”

In a conversation where relations with PS were also discussed, since PAN was one of the parties that made state budgets viable, the spokesman stressed that “people not only understand, but also accept, but also agree with this position of PAN, constructive, oppositional, closely watching the authorities. “

“But when it’s necessary, and politics consists of alliances and talking about negotiations, when it’s necessary to promote our cause, our values, negotiate and conclude agreements, why not,” he argued, defending that the party was “successful”. “In the balance between anticipatory measures and the preservation of their“ independence ”.

According to André Silva, “there was no moment of tension in relations with the Socialist Party and the government stronger than a legislative initiative, in which there were periods of disgust for those who leave the government in positions, such as the administration of Banco de Portugal”, a bill that he called “the law of Centeno”.

“This is clearly not from a party that has any dependence or believes that another party is its political boss,” he stressed.

Regarding negotiations on next year’s state budget, the leader said that “the PS shows that it wants to start negotiations with the parties that have concluded agreements in recent years, in addition to the PAN”.

And he stressed that his party is “ready to talk, conduct a dialogue” with all parties and make proposals to improve the government’s proposal, which, in his opinion, will not be “ideal”, indicating that meetings in this sense “will begin in the coming weeks.” … , after his departure.

A few days before leaving the PAN leadership, André Silva classified as “nonsense” (nonsense) and “ludicrous” internal criticism that the party moved away from the reasons it was born, such as animal welfare, highlighted change. this helped to implement “public policy on animal welfare”, given that there had been “tremendous progress” in this area, and also praised his mandate.

And he called on people “who are making this absolutely wrong and decontextualized assessment” to speak at the congress.

As for what remains to be done, he highlighted three things: “abolition of bullfighting”, “an end to perverse subsidies for large polluting enterprises” and the extension of “voting rights to 16-year-olds.”

The rejection of the membership of MP Cristina Rodriguez, who was his chief of staff, and MEP Francisco Guerreiro, he considered “a blow to the party” as well as “personal disappointment” and criticized the work done by both as independent.

“If they did anything, then at least they played a leading role in European politics or in the politics of Portugal, [mas] What actions or inaction of these deputies speak for themselves, ”he stressed.

André Silva was elected PAN representative in 2014, and in 2015 he was elected the only party member in the Assembly of the Republic.

In March, in a letter to the militants, he announced that he would leave the executive functions in the party and the seat of a deputy, citing personal reasons and defending the principle of time limits.