"On the way to Bethlehem": behind the scenes of the presidential gatherings

Without the local elections, Rádio Observador's " Tarde Política" — presented by deputy director Ricardo Conceição — risked losing its regular political programming. That was unacceptable, of course. However, it only took deputy director Pedro Jorge Castro identifying the problem for it to be quickly resolved. Since the presidential pre-campaign has been underway for several months, the only solution was to capitalize on the momentum and organize a good debate between representatives of the eight candidates running for the Presidency of the Republic on January 18th. A simple, clean plan, without any thorns. But putting everything into action is always more difficult than having good ideas.

Just ask the political editor, Rui Pedro Antunes, who was the first to have to contact all the candidates to find out who the representatives would be—figures who needed no introduction. And just ask the producer, Maria Nunes, who, in addition to weekly contacts, had to create a schedule to ensure that the guests rotated and didn't always end up debating with each other.

But the program “On the Way to Bethlehem” quickly took shape and premiered (on October 23rd) on Rádio Observador. It airs live every Thursday and Friday at 5:30 PM, and is later released as a podcast on various platforms.

Maria, who spends hours on the phone, has to juggle everything. And not get confused. Which isn't always easy, let's face it.

Paula Cosme Pinto has been representing Catarina Martins' candidacy. Before the first debate, the advisor from the Left Bloc warned: “Paula doesn't belong to the party. She will only represent the candidacy this week.” Three weeks later, the same Paula was still representing the Left Bloc. And Maria received another message from the advisor, this time with humor: “Paula will be representing again this week. The most permanent temporary representative of Rádio Observador.” Paula herself always begins her interventions the same way: “I'm not a member of the Left Bloc, but…” Among her panel colleagues, it's almost a signature.

Bernardino Soares, from the CDU, is supporting António Filipe's candidacy. Last Friday, he shared the studio with MP Jorge Miguel Teixeira, from the Liberal Initiative, who supports Cotrim de Figueiredo — at least until it's possible to reconcile their schedules with Bernardo Blanco. During the debate, Jorge Miguel recalled seeing Bernardino on television debating with António Guterres. He smiled and commented that now it was his turn to debate with the communist — but on the radio.

Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos is representing Henrique Gouveia e Melo's candidacy. He had never before accepted an invitation to participate in a program on Rádio Observador. But this time was different: he answered Maria's call on the first try (unprecedented in three years of production), immediately accepted the invitation, and confirmed all the proposed dates for the following nine weeks. "Never has an invitation been so efficient," says Maria, amused.

André Ventura's candidacy was supposed to be represented by MP Cristina Rodrigues. She confirmed her participation in the first debate, but had to reschedule due to the national mourning for the death of Francisco Pinto Balsemão, which altered the entire parliamentary agenda. When, just hours before the first debate, the vote on the nationality law had not yet begun, Cristina delegated to her colleague Bruno Nunes, who has since confirmed his attendance.

The invitation to Livre was made even before the party officially announced its support for Jorge Pinto. Therefore, they decided not to participate in the first two weeks of debates. As soon as the support was confirmed, the matter was resolved: three days later, Isabel Mendes Lopes was on air, representing the party on Friday's panels.

Luís Marques Mendes' candidacy was secured by José Eduardo Martins, who made his debut last Thursday. For the first two weeks, there was no representation due to lack of availability; afterwards, it was delegated to Duarte Pacheco who, the day before, had participated in the program where Miguel Prata Roque left the studio after accusations from Rodrigo Taxa, of Chega. At the door of Observador, Duarte called Maria and warned: “I'm at the door. I'll only come in if you promise me that nobody will leave the studio.” “Don't worry,” she replied. “I'll lock you all in there.” Amidst laughter, Duarte Pacheco joined Adalberto Campos Fernandes, Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, and Paula Cosme Pinto, and they jokingly planned who would be the first to leave. They all stayed until the end.

Adalberto Campos Fernandes, representing António José Seguro's candidacy, is a regular on Rádio Observador. He was the first to arrive on the day of the program's premiere. At the studio door, a minute before going on air, he shared his prediction about the election results—and promised Maria and his fellow panelists a dinner at Gambrinus if luck was on his side. Everyone assures him he'll have to pay.

The debates have been lively, but with civility, informality, and humor. As a rule, everyone always sits in the same place in the studio and, with their microphones off, they exchange good-natured banter. The program is proving to be a true late afternoon chat among the eight, both inside and outside the studio. Maria, when she sees them all enter with coffee in hand, can't resist: "They all get along too well for people who are going to debate in five minutes."