Europeans and primaries at the beginning of the 14th Congress of the Free

The 14th Congress of the Livre begins this Saturday in Costa de Caparica with a debate on the electoral program for the European elections and the presentation of three lists of leadership candidates that propose improvements to the primaries process.

Following the approval of the rules of the congress in an exclusively online format on Friday evening, members and supporters of the Livre will meet this Saturday at the municipal pavilion of the Costa de Caparica, in the municipality of Almada, Setúbal district.

According to an official party source, about 200 congressmen are registered and will participate locally or remotely.

At this congress, Livre will approve the program for the European elections on June 9 and elect new national bodies for a mandate for 2024-2026.

According to the program, the main meeting begins with speeches by representatives of the outgoing national bodies, followed by the presentation of three lists of candidates to the Contact Group (leadership) and two to the Jurisdictional Council.

The afternoon will see the presentation of the party’s preliminary program for the European elections, as Livre members and supporters will be able to submit amendments to the document, which closes on Sunday.

Debates are scheduled at the end of the day on 25 specific proposals, with topics ranging from improving the open primary process, strengthening public housing policies or a national referendum on regionalization in 2026.

Lawmaker and founder of Livre Rui Tavares is expected to address congressmen around 9 p.m., according to a party official.

This congress comes after Livre achieved its best ever result in the March legislative elections – winning for the first time over the parliamentary group consisting of Ruy Tavares, Isabel Mendez Lopez, Jorge Pinto and Paulo Muacho – a growth that the party wants to consolidate . , ten years after its founding.

The list of candidates for the European elections will be headed by leader Francisco Pauperio after an open primary election marked by controversy and internal divisions.

Pauperio won the primary with a significant number of single nonpartisan votes, leading the Electoral Commission to question a possible “hard tabulation” in the first round and propose that only party members vote in the second round – something that ultimately did not happen.

Improving the results of the primaries will certainly be one of the topics highlighted at the main meeting, as this is a concern expressed by the three lists of candidates for the Contact Group (leadership), the executive body of the Livre. However, specific changes will have to be made at a possible legislative congress.

There are three lists of leadership candidates: the “A” list, headed by Livra parliamentary leader Isabel Mendez Lopez, deputies Rui Tavares and Jorge Pinto, and European election number two Filipa Pinto; the B list, led by leader Natersia Lopez, followed by Rodrigo Brito and Patricia Robalo; and the “C” list, headed, among others, by Joao Mansu and in second place by Irene Gomez.

The Contact Group consists of 15 members elected according to the Hondt method, and therefore it is certain that it will include representatives of various internal movements.

A new Free Assembly, the highest body between congresses, will also be elected, which has 95 individual candidates for 50 seats.

As for the Jurisdictional Council, consisting of 11 seats, two lists are competing: list “A”, headed by deputy Paulo Muacho, and list “B”, headed by deputy Rui Matias.