I was in high school, now the third cycle, and I had two options to choose from: philosophy or psychology. He signed a petition to the school board because he wanted to study political science, and he even managed to put half of the class on this option. Sofia Matos, now 31 years old and chosen by Rui Rio to head the SDP list in Porto, has already removed the beast from the politics of a family whose parents were party activists in Trofa. Homeland and father played a decisive role in what followed.
At the age of eight, through the hand of his father, he joined “ten thousand more trophies” to support Trofa’s ascent into the county that 1998. “We are people very connected to our roots and very attentive to research. politicians, ”the Social Democratic deputy guarantees. And the connection of all this with the father? “My father was never a leader, but he was a very dedicated fighter of PSD da Trofa and he gave me this desire to do something for the community, for the council and for the people.”
Entering politics was not straightforward; it still had attraction and discontent. Sofia Matos entered Law without being associated with any party, and she was in trouble. “Since childhood, I wanted to be a lawyer and also be involved in politics. I had the idea that if I were a lawyer, I could be involved in politics, and if it were just politics, I would not have independence, ”she emphasizes. Therefore, he completed an internship at the Portuguese Bar Association and received an excellent mark. “Politics are unstable,” he says, and calls for recent internal party elections to recognize that “if he had supported Paulo Rangel, he would not have been on the lists …”
It is only at the 2009 European Championships that she meets with the then president of JSD da Trofa and is invited to a meeting that brings her to hot. A year later, she is running for the JSD council, and six years later for the district. In 2020, when his term expired, he decided to run for the JSD leader against Alexander Pozo. “I lost 40 votes,” he says without a trace of regret for taking the risk.
Unlike Poso (who was with Rangel), he always supported Rui Rio and campaigned for the re-election of the Social Democrat president. It’s because? He has convincing arguments.
He assures that Rio “has the courage to say what he thinks, to be himself and not give in Main streamHe adds to this a “reformist vision of Portugal”. Sofia Matos argues that “Paulo Rangel, for example, asked for an absolute majority, knowing that it was practically impossible and that an agreement with the PS was needed to carry out reforms. necessary “, for which Rio did not hesitate to get down to business.” Rui Rio’s courage is not new, just look how he wished Antonio Costa good luck in the fight against the pandemic and put the opposition at the service of the country. It shocked some and even became a benchmark at the international level. “
“He’s not only doing something for that,” he says, and it’s with this “consistency” that he claims to fully identify himself. “This is what it is,” says Sofia Matos, who was already a candidate on the PSD Porto lists in 2019, but not in such a prominent position and with a “gigantic responsibility” that must now overtake Rio itself. list by districts.
“When I was asked where I was going to be in these internal elections and with all the expectations that Paulo Rangel would win, I always answered in the same way that there is no other place where I could be but near Rio. I have the backbone and it didn’t matter if I win or lose, ”he says.
He starts the election campaign with the conviction that “the government is very exhausted”, even after “Antonio Costa benefited from the sympathy of the electorate during the pandemic.” And, according to him, “PS has been on sale in the last seven years, and the model of the device is no longer published.”
“Courage to Reform Needed”
The candidate now hopes to convey the message that the SDP has reformist and humanistic proposals in areas that matter to the population, from healthcare, education, government reform, territory and new generations to political reform. “I am confident that we want to do something for the country and there is an urgent need to muster the courage for reforms that are not easy because they will change the system and established interests,” he adds, hoping the PS is also open to “think more about country, than about their interests. ” Those who claim to have ruled Antonio Costa “with arrogance” have categorically rejected the direct support of the SDP of any approval of state budgets. “If I had not done this, perhaps now we would not have had early elections.”
This lawyer, single, childless (which means “keep this in mind”), living alone, has another politician whom she admires far beyond Rio. “You will be surprised!” “This is Pedro Santana Lopez, the person who has touched me since childhood, especially because of his sensitivity to social issues.” But also because, although his personality and career are completely different from Rio, he considers him to be a real politician.… “There is a tendency in politics to play a lot with the theater, and it has always shown its strengths and weaknesses. The politician must normalize himself as one of us, ”- defends the head of the PSD list in front of Porto.
