Manuel Fernando Araújo / Lusa
The parliamentary leader of IL, Mariana Leitão
“New Political Cycle” for IL: Current List head by the Lisbon Electoral Circle rejects the idea that Portugal is today “the best it can be” and wants to make the “unavoidable reference” of change.
A Líder Parliamentar from Il, Mariana Leitão42, announced on Wednesday that he will run for party leadership, claiming to have the desire to “add a movement that inspires a change in the country” and rely on the “contribution of all”.
“I am a candidate for the leadership of the liberal initiative,” announced Mariana Leitão in a social networks, in which he said he decided to move on because he has “the will and the ability to add a movement that inspires a change in the country.”
“Without fear of being liberal, with courage To erect our liberal flags without any hesitation, without moderating the affirmation of liberal values in all their fullness, ”one reads.
Mariana Leitão states that if he is elected president, IL will be the leader “of the defense of economic, political and social freedom, the right to each other to make their way and to choose the way they live their life, the right to each one to see the effort of their rewarded work, the right to each one to give their best and see their merit recognized”.
“We will be leaders in defending individual freedomthe most precious good, protecting it against the abuses of the state and any forms of collectivism that limit, or try to limit, the just ambition and initiative of the Portuguese, ”he promises.
IL’s Green Candident agular . He says he refuses the idea that Portugal is today “the best it can be”contrasting that he believes in a “country that is built in freedom, with prosperity and opportunities for all”.
“A dynamic nation that is not afraid to risk, to innovate, to modernize. A nation based on a people working and driven by an efficient and limited state to what really matters, that does not block, non -stifle and limits,” he says.
IL’s parliamentary leader points out that the coming times will be of “huge political, social and technological challenges”, which also makes times of “a historical opportunity for Portugal to make a leap development ”.
Then Mariana Leitão recalls her course at IL to point out that she was a basic member, coordinator of territorial nucleus, president of the National Council, municipal deputy, parliamentary cabinet, deputy and parliamentary leader.
The deputy states that, in all these positions, he met “a party of fantastic people, very capable, who does not conform to the fate of the country, who wants more, who knows that deserves more and who wants to fight for more.”
“I want to inspire the full potential of IL, adding the contributions of all, so that we are unavoidable reference The ideas that transform and the solutions that make Portugal advance, ”he says.
In an allusion to the party leadership, announced on Saturday, Mariana Leitão states that the party “built a lot” in recent years and had “relevance in the affirmation of liberal ideas in the country.”
“But now that the country starts a new political cycleIl, too, needs to start a new cycle of energy and transformation, ”he says.
Elected deputy in these legislatures as List head by the Lisbon Electoral CircleMariana Leitão was reelected on Tuesday IL parliamentary leader and the January 2026 elections.
In this context, he has already been public in criticism of candidate Henrique Gouveia and Melo, who “does not know who it is.”
“I’m not afraid of Gouveia and Melo, because I don’t know who Gouveia and Melo in concrete is … We don’t know what you think … Not knowing exactly what you think and defends, the Admiral has had two or three interventions in the public square with ideas that I have difficulty subscribing,” said the new candidate for liberal leadership.
A 42 -year -old and a degree in International Relations, Mariana Leitão joined IL in June 2019, and between 2020 and 2022, president of the Party National Council and, between 2022 and 2024, chief of staff of the IL parliamentary group.
At the last IL national convention in February, it was elected vice president of the partyin the list for the direction presented by Rui Rocha, who resigned from the leadership in this party this Saturday.
After the departure of Rocha, Leitão, one of the party’s most media names, had already been in succession.
The former deputy and leader of the liberal initiative (IL) Bernardo Blancoalso pointed out to leadership,: pointed out the deputy – and Mário Amorim Lopes – as “more capable”. “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.
