The PS National Commission meets this Saturday to formalize the decisions to hold a congress on January 6 and 7 and direct elections for the position of Socialist General Secretary on December 15 and 16.
This meeting, which will take place in the Parque des Nations in Lisbon at 10 am, will open with a speech by the still socialist leader António Costa on the political situation in the country, but this time, in contrast to what happened in previous meetings. , it will be closed to the media.
António Costa resigned as Prime Minister on the 7th, when he also announced that he would not re-contest for the position in the early legislative elections on 10 March.
To succeed António Costa as leader of the PS, two candidates are already being discussed: the candidacy of former Deputy Secretary General and current Minister of the Interior José Luis Carneiro and Socialist MP and former minister Pedro Nuno Santos.
Speaking to Lusa, Congress Organizing Committee (COC) President Pedro do Carmo said applications for the position of PS general secretary must be submitted by the 30th of this month with the signatures of 200 socialist parties. militant supporters and was accompanied by an offer of political leadership.
In the direct elections for the post of Secretary General of the PS on December 15 and 16, according to the President of the CC, about 80 thousand socialist activists will be able to vote, provided that they are paid the appropriate fees (for the first half of the year). this year) until the end of this month.
The next PS congress, to be held in Lisbon, will have 1,600 elected delegates and another 1,100 with inherent rights, as they hold local political positions or in the national bodies of this political force.
With early legislative elections scheduled for March 10, the PS National Commission is also expected to decide today to postpone the party’s federal and municipal elections, which were scheduled for early 2024.