PS/Congress: Socialists maintain a strategic line to the left and launch a municipal campaign

Congress takes place between today and Sunday at Portimão Arena

Portimao Arena

The PS holds today and Sunday its 23rd National Congress, which will serve to launch the municipal campaign and approve a line of strategic continuity, with the socialists favoring agreements on the left and with the PAN.

The beginning of congress at the Arena de Portimão, is scheduled for 11:00 am, with the speech of the president of the PS, Carlos César, who once again runs without any opposition to this position he has held since November 2014.

After brief interventions by the mayor of Portimão, Isilda Gomes, the leader of the PS Algarve Federation and president of the Congress Organizing Committee (COC), Luís Graça, the elected secretary general, António Costa, will then make the first of his two key speeches at this congress.

A speech in front of around 1.400 delegates with the right to vote – 1.029 directly elected from the grassroots and the rest inherently – and which traditionally is more focused on issues of a party strategic order.

At this point, the socialist leader should reiterate the availability of dialogue with the parliamentary "partners" on his left - PCP, PEV and Left Bloc - and with the PAN, having as its horizon the negotiations of the State Budget for 2022.

In the socialist direction, the issue of approval of the Budget for next year is seen as "fundamental", not only for the sake of political stability, but also because it is considered an essential instrument to set in motion the economic and social recovery after the crisis. by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another inevitable point in this first speech by the PS secretary general will be the municipal elections of September 26th – an electoral act in relation to which the defined objective is to win in the number of chambers and parishes, keeping the socialists with the presidencies of the associations municipalities (ANMP) and parishes (ANAFRE).

One of the doubts lies in the possibility of António Costa taking the opportunity to clarify before the socialist delegates the question of his continuity in the leadership of the PS after 2023, and whether he intends to re-candidate for prime minister in the next legislative elections.

In a recent interview with the newspaper Expresso, Costa said that in 2023 he will assess whether or not he will continue to lead the PS, at a time when ministers Pedro Nuno Santos and Mariana Vieira da Silva, parliamentary leader Ana Catarina Mendes, are appointed as his potential successors. and the mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina.

The afternoon period of the first two days of congress will open with an intervention by the former socialist leader (2002/2004) and President of the Assembly of the Republic, Ferro Rodrigues, followed by the discussion of the two political motions of global orientation in dispute: One by António Costa, which will be presented by Mariana Vieira da Silva; the other by socialist leader Daniel Adrião, who had 6% in direct elections for the post of secretary general last June.

Voting on these two strategy motions, via electronic means, is scheduled for 20:00. Unlike usual, at this congress there will be no interruption of work for dinner.

On Sunday, the socialist delegates elect, also by electronic vote, the National, Jurisdiction and Economic Inspection commissions, and attend the presentation of more than two dozen sectorial motions.

António Costa then made his second keynote speech, closing the congress with a speech essentially focused on governance issues.

 



Comments

Ads