Africa-Press – Cape verde. The president of the Municipal Council of Sal, Júlio Lopes, does not confirm his re-candidacy for his own succession in the next municipal elections, in October 2024, but he also does not rule out this possibility, if the “people want it”, as he highlighted.
Júlio Lopes was speaking today in an interview with Inforpress, when asked whether or not he will re-apply for the leadership of the city council seat in the next elections, showing, however, a discreet smile when speaking about the matter.
“I have no political ambition. I’m here to work, there’s still some time left to complete my mandate, and do my best for the island of Sal. I’m not here as president as a profession, I have a very good professional activity, and being here, of course, harms my professional activity ”, he commented.
The mayor, who prefers not to open up about his re-candidacy, reiterated that he is leading the city council, the municipality to “serve the people” of Sal.
“To be a re-candidate, the people have to want it. I don’t do things to please myself. I’m here on a mission. If the majority of the people, at a significant level, agree… I will be able to think about whether I will be available”, he replied after some insistence.
“There are people who want to be, have the desire to be in politics, have the ambition to be in charge… I don’t have this intention, nothing like that. I’m here, as I said, on a mission to serve my island, my country. My ambition is to see a better Sal. If there is someone better than me, let him come”, he said.
If there are ways to know whether the people of Sal are in fact inclined to continue with him in front of the camera, namely through polls, Júlio Lopes repeats again that if the people of Sal have this emotion, it will be a subject to think about.
“We have always had, there has been an environment of great friendship, of great emotion between the president and the population, the voters. If there is this desire, it is something to think about”, he reiterated.
Does that mean it’s available then? To which he responds: “I am always available for everything that is for Cape Verde and Sal. Now, what I want to say is that I am not here or anywhere else because of any personal ambition in terms of politics”, he concluded.
“You can count on Júlio for everything that is good for Sal and Cape Verde. I take this proximity management very seriously. I have to be close to the people and the people close to me. This symbiosis must exist”, highlighted the mayor.
Not directly assuming whether he is a candidate or not for a third term, considering that there is still a lot of time left, Júlio Lopes said that, until now, he is just a candidate for work.
“We still have a lot of work to do. I am a candidate for work. It all depends on the work,” she concluded.
When asked what it has been like all this time in the council leadership, as mayor, he said that being in the Sal council in difficult times, as he “caught” the covid-19 pandemic “was terrible”.
“We entered at the end of 2017, in 2018 we completed the first year and then in 2019/2020 the pandemic came, and these years of crisis were terrible. Seeing how the island of Sal fell, the hotels closed, people without jobs, the population in need of support, was truly terrible. Then the chamber had a reduction in revenue. It’s terrible to see how Sal, a tourist island, was damaged because of the pandemic”, he lamented.
“Fortunately, the pandemic has passed, but we now have the externalities of wars, rising prices, things that affect the population. So a camera has to be ready to help those who need it most. See that the same happens at Government level. But we are here. It is in difficult times that good leaders emerge”, he emphasized, predicting after these “storms” a cycle of long “very good” years for Sal and Cape Verde.
“There are signs that the next ten years will be very good for Sal, Cape Verde and the world”, he concluded.
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