Alexandra Leitão, PS candidate for Lisbon City Council
PS parliamentary leader was made official this Tuesday as a candidate for the Lisbon Chamber and will face Carlos Moedas in around 8 months. The current mayor of the capital already has a strategy in mind.
It’s official: the parliamentary leader of the PS, Alexandra Leitãowill be the socialist candidate for the Lisbon Chamber, confirmed Pedro Nuno Santos.
This choice is a “sign of strong bet” that the party is doing in Lisbon and is “the right person”, said the party’s general secretary, highlighting Alexandra Leitão’s profile of “achievement and achievement”.
“The choice of Alexandra Leitão for Lisbon City Council can be explained in a very simple way. The capital is very important, Lisbon is being poorly governed by the PSD and the current mayor and therefore the PS had to make its biggest bet”responded to journalists.
According to the PS leader, the socialist parliamentary leader “is one of the most important figures” of the PSafter himself and the party president, Carlos César.
“It is a sign of the strong investment we are making in Lisbon, a city where it is increasingly clear that Carlos Moedas is incapable of solving problems such as hygiene and safety, mobility and traffic and even housing”, defended.
Pedro Nuno Santos highlighted that Alexandra Leitão has this profile of “determination, strength and problem-solving ability”.
“What is clear to us is that from left to right the idea that Carlos Moedas works well on his image but is unable to solve problems for the people of Lisbon is becoming very present,” he accused.
“Radical”? Currencies are already on the attack
Carlos Moedas, current president, gains a direct opponent, allowing him to leave his defensive position and present himself as an alternative to the socialist model, points out . The presence of Leitão, associated with the left wing of the PS, gives Moedas the opportunity to explore a narrative that aims to unite the center and the right against the PS agenda presented as “left-wing radical” by the men of Coins.
A figure close to Pedro Nuno Santos, Leitão promises a more left-wing candidacy, marked by a combative speech.
On the PSD side, Moedas’ strategy is to reinforce the image of moderation, moving away from “extremes” and betting on voters in the center. On the other hand, Alexandra Leitão will have to combat the narrative of radicalism and show that she is capable of offering solutions to Lisbon’s problems.
Coalition on the left? “I don’t speak for others”
Asked whether this choice was also from the perspective of a coalition or bridges to the left, the PT member rejected this idea.
“The choice of Alexandra Leitão has to do with her profile, with the political dimension that she has gained over the last few years in Portugal, representing the Socialist Party, the profile of accomplishment that she has and that offers us the possibility of we can compete for Lisbon City Council”, he considered.
Showing his conviction that “Alexandra Leitão is really the right person for the Socialist Party to return to govern the Lisbon City Council”, Pedro Nuno Santos said that the rest depends on the work that is done from now on.
“Right now, the only thing I can say is that the Socialist Party has a candidate, I can’t speak for the other parties as is evident,” he said.
Mariana Vieira da Silva to Sintra?
The PS leader was also asked what led him to choose Alexandra Leitão instead of the former minister Mariana Vieira da Silva and about the possibility of the latter being the PS candidate for Sintra.
“Mariana Vieira da Silva is one of the most important members of the Socialist Party and is seen by all of us, I believe, as someone of great political capacity and quality,” he said.
The deputy and leader, seen as more “centrist” than Leitão, was another name considered for the socialist candidacy for Lisbon: the selection process of the socialist for the CML was given as , but the polls favored the current parliamentary leader.
Despite the supposed favoritism, a SIC source says that Mariana Vieira da Silva was not Pedro Nuno’s option: “He didn’t speak to Mariana”, says the source.
Who will be parliamentary leader?
Regarding the possible replacement of Alexandra Leitão as parliamentary leader of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos refused to provide details, considering that the timings These decisions belong to the party.
Pedro Delgado Alves, vice-president, could ascend to the position that Leitão leaves open.
“No” to Costa, “yes” to Pedro Nuno
Alexandra Leitão was elected parliamentary leader of the PS in April after the early legislative elections in which she was head of the list for the district of Santarém. She is a member of the PS National Secretariat and was the coordinator of the party’s electoral program in the last legislative elections.
She was Minister of State Modernization and Public Administration from 2019 to 2022 and, between 2015 and 2019, Deputy Secretary of State and Education. In the last legislature, as a federal deputy, she was president of the parliamentary committee on Transparency and Statute of Deputies.
In 2022, the then PS leader and prime minister, António Costa, had already proposed the position of parliamentary leader to Alexandra Leitão, who ended up refusing.
