António Cotrim / Lusa
Internal opponent Pedro Soares says he is out of the race and that the Convention should be postponed. José Manuel Pureza should be the candidate for motion A, the same one that elected Mortágua.
In addition to leaving the leadership of the Bloco de Esquerda, Mariana Mortágua will also leave her mandate in the Assembly of the Republic after the budget process, at the end of November, and rejected talking about “any decision about the future” of the party.
“I intend complete the budget process that I started and after that I left parliament”, stated Mariana Mortágua at a press conference at BE’s national headquarters, in Lisbon.
The leader of the blockers announced this Saturday, in a letter to the militants, to which Lusa had access, that she will not re-apply for the leadership of the party considering that the leadership headed by her was unable to “generate new political and electoral momentum”.
Asked about the profile of the party’s next leader, and whether it would be beneficial to have the same person in that position and in parliament, since BE only has one deputy, Mariana Mortágua refused to give her opinion.
“This is a decision that is not up to mewhich is up to the Left Bloc to take, which is up to the Bloc’s militants, in its next direction. And this is the process that begins now, or continues now, of preparing the Bloc Convention”, he replied, referring to the main meeting scheduled for the 29th and 30th of November.
Regarding what changed to make this decision, Mariana Mortágua said that she began to reflect on a possible exit after the legislative elections in May, in which the party had its worst result ever in that type of suffrage, going from five to a single deputy.
Mortágua rejected that his decision was taken or even conditioned by articles from any commentator, after former activist Daniel Oliveira wrote an opinion article this week in the newspaper Expresso in which he defended his departure.
“This reflection began on the day of the legislative results. But I considered, and still consider, that it would be irresponsible, without carrying out this reflection, to make an unreflective decision and leave the Bloc in an empty situation, until a convention that was scheduled for November”, he argued.
Mortágua says he made his reflection “with time and consideration“.
The bloc leader pointed out that “at the end of a period an absolute majority that fell with a bang a few years ago”, that of the PS, led by António Costa, “and with the growth of the right and in particular the extreme right and its influence in Portuguese politics, it was necessary give a new impetus to the left”.
“It was necessary for the left to be able to have this new impetus to combat the right, for it to be able to expand its social space, and also to be able to reverse a reduction in its electoral space. I consider that these objectives were not met and I take responsibility for this reflection I make and the conclusion I draw”, he maintained.
Mortágua considered that his party could benefit from having “other people, other faces, other voices” at this moment, both in coordination and in the Assembly of the Republic.
“This is a personal decision, as it can only be. The decision on the future of the Bloc, this is a collective decision and that will take place at the next BE convention and will come out of the debate, firstly, between the various motions that are candidates for the Convention and then the debate that will take place at the Convention itself”, he highlighted.
Regarding her future, Mariana Mortágua stated that “the removal from political life is an impossibility” and promised to be available to work in the party and “build the left”.
“I am also part of that future, even if not as coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda. Not at the moment as coordinator and not in the future as a deputy”, she stated.
Mariana Mortágua, 39 years old, economist, was elected national coordinator of BE in May 2023, at the party’s last national convention, succeeding Catarina Martins, current candidate for the Presidency of the Republic supported by the blocistas.
In the May legislative elections of this year, BE had its worst result ever in its history in elections of this type, going from five parliamentarians to just one, and in this month’s local elections it went from five councilors and 94 municipal deputies to one councilor in Lisbon and a total of 17 deputies in chambers and parishes.
In the BE list for the Lisbon constituency in the last legislative elections, Fabian Figueiredo, former Bloc parliamentary leader, comes in second place.
In third, Andreia Galvão, who recently replaced the coordinator in parliament when she participated in a flotilla that aimed to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, followed by Ackssana Rodrigues da Silva in fourth and the leader of the hard core of BE Jorge Costa, in fifth.
Who could succeed?
Internal opposition has marked Mortágua’s direction, but Pedro Soares, one of the leader’s main critics and her opponent when she was elected coordinator for the first time, is out of the race.
Speaking to , Soares said that he will not participate in the Convention and thinks that the meeting should be postponed. The opponent also does not see a natural successor to Mortágua. “I don’t trust that there is, by intuition, a solution“, he says.
“Everything is expected so that nothing changes in the Left Bloc, and that is what is serious”, considers Soares, who thinks that the main problem is the Secretariat of the National Board and that “they are offering Mariana’s head on a platter to save the leadership itself”
From the political side of Mortágua, José Manuel Pureza should advance with an application. According to , the 66-year-old former deputy and university professor should be the candidate presented by motion A, the same one that elected Mortágua and of which he signed.
In a note sent to Lusa, José Manuel Pureza believes that a solution will be found that “gives strength” to the party, but does not confirm whether he will be a candidate and rules out any “precipitation”. “In the Bloc, each motion will present its proposed political orientation and direction solution to the National Convention. There are, in the motion that I subscribe to, several people with great capacity to coordinate the Bloc”, he emphasizes.
“I am committed to it in exactly the same way as all my comrades. Neither more nor less. I am sure that we will know how to find it at the next Bloc Convention a solution that gives strength to the Block. Until then, all scenarios are hasty”, he concludes.
