Bernardo Blanco
Former deputy and leader will head a list to the National Council of Liberal Initiative. Departure from Rui Rocha “was the right decision,” he says: “There was an excessive collage to AD.”
The former deputy and leader of the liberal initiative (IL) Bernardo Blanco dismissed the possibility of a candidacy for the leadership and succession of Rui Rocha, who if this weekend of office.
In a short interview with, Bernardo Blanco criticized what he classified from “Excessive Collage” In the recent election campaign, arguing that, having not been a pre-election alliance, there should have been greater differentiation from the PSD/CDS-PP coalition.
For himself, the removal of Rui Rocha “was the correct decision,” he said on the radio this Monday, where he assumed he should hold a list to the National Council again.
About a possible candidacy for the leadership of his part, which has already admitted to the future, the national counselor completely removed it at this time, stressing that he was no longer a deputy by his own choice.
“It would not make sense to compete, I will not be a candidateI have three professional challenges in the private sector, it is certainly not my time, ”he said.
The “most capable”: Leitão and Amorim Lopes
And says there are more “capable” people right now: the deputies Mariana Leitão e Mário Amorim Lopes They would be “great presidents” of the party.
Asked who may succeed Rui Rocha, who announced on Saturday his resignation, Bernardo Blanco argued that he should be a deputy and – excluding Carlos Guimarães Pinto who has been unavailable for these functions.
“It is Mariana Leitão and Mário Amorim Lopes, any of them, in my view, will give a great president of the liberal initiative,” he said, stating that he would even support both.
“If they want to change party rules, having a joint leadership, I would support both. I think they have both excellent political capabilities,” he added.
“Excessive collage to AD”
Despite grateful to Rui Rocha for his work at IL, the former deputy agreed with his analysis that the result in the last elections “was not enough”, saying that The party has to ambition at least a 10%vote.
“In my view, there was a excessive collage to ad: of both, one, either or we were – we would not pay each other. If there is no coalition, there has to be a differentiation, people have to know what we argue and what we distinguish ourselves, ”he said, considering that the party should not have retreated in its proposals in the fiscal area or reducing civil servants.
In the May 18 legislatures, IL elected nine deputies, more than in previous elections, in 2024. In March, IL Bernardo Blanco’s national counselor announced that he would not be a candidate for deputy in the May legislatures, justifying that he intended to devote himself to the private sector and launch a civic project.
