“Who will I be on whose side? From a government that governs to the top?”

Pedro Nuno Santos made a brief statement to journalists leaving the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon at the end of Tuesday night, stressing that he is “on the side” of those who manifest themselves by the right to housing. “ Then who will I be on whose side?”

“ I have already said what I had to say about that night, about the several nights when protesting youths had a completely disproportionate reaction to what they were doing.”He began by pointing out the former Secretary-General of the Socialist Party.

Asked whether he is “on the side” of these protesters, Pedro Nuno Santos was taxing: “ Then whose side am I gonna be on? From a government that rules to the top, spraying itself on the bottom and on the young? No, never in life”. 

Remember that the socialist had already criticized police intervention in Rossio through a video published on social media last Sunday. “Yesterday [saturday] was a shame. We have seen what I consider an attack on the rule of law, democracy and the right to demonstrate it was so hard for us to conquer. And I say this because we watched a violent police load, with batonadas, kicks, tasers, dogs fired against demonstrators without there had been a strong reason for the police to advance against the demonstrators ", pointed out at the time.

Yesterday, thousands of people filled yesterday's afternoon in front of the Assembly of the Republic and the adjacent streets, in a protest for the right to housing, which brought together the movement that organizes the Camp of Lisbon, in Rossio, and the platform Casa Para Viver – and took place without incident.

Throughout the night, several improvised concerts were held by artists sympathetic to the cause, such as Marisa Liz, who sang a version of Zeca Afonso's song “Death has gone out.”.

Several protesters called to speak on the initiative also left an appeal for a general strike for the right to housing and the increase in the cost of living, after this week CGTP has already admitted to calling for a new stoppage.

The demonstration also made several calls for the participation of security forces agents as a form of solidarity: “You are a citizen before you are a cop,” they said.

This took place on the day the general discussion of the proposal of the State Budget Government for 2027 began in Parliament.