Obama tells Lisbon forum young leaders are needed and presidents cannot start wars without parliament

Belém and the forum

On Saturday, Barack Obama was received at Belém Palace by President António José Seguro for what the presidency's website described as an informal conversation and an exchange of views on international affairs. The same afternoon he was the keynote speaker at the sixth Game Changers Forum at the Meo Arena in Lisbon, where a full hall, including some T-shirts bearing his face, heard him speak on leadership and resilience. Ricardo Parreira, founder and former CEO of PHC Software, moderated the conversation on stage.

Young leaders and democracy

Speaking in a world of accelerating change, Obama argued that leaders must pass on ethics, values, rules and respect for others to new generations, work he carries out through the Obama Foundation and the Barack Obama Presidential Center, which opened in Chicago in June. He warned that during major disruptions people feel insecure and tend to fall into radicalism and sectarianism.

We need more young leaders because old leaders do not know how to use a mobile phone.

Obama reminded the audience that democracy is a very recent regime in the history of humanity, which is why it must be reaffirmed and defended.

The radical thing about democracy is that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. We all have votes, we all have dignity.

War powers and Trump

Without ever naming Donald Trump, his successor in the White House, Obama said there is a force in their countries seeking to recover the old castes, and that in the United States the idea of 'real Americans' is being sold. He also said that 'the Black people were silent and the women stayed in the kitchen' describes a return to an earlier era, a remark that recalled his own 2008 election as the first African American president. On the war question, he told the audience:

Technically, a president cannot start a war without the approval of parliament.

The remark drew strong applause at the close of the forum. Obama did not explicitly refer to the current president, Donald Trump, who did not seek legislative authorisation for the attacks against Iran.

Campaign ahead

The 3 November vote covers the whole House of Representatives and a third of Senate seats, and polls have pointed to a Democratic advantage while Trump faces strong disapproval. Obama is due to join the Democratic campaign on the 24th in Michigan, where he will support Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit. His last visit to Portugal was in November 2010, when as president he attended the EU-US and NATO summits.