The VII National Congress of the IL starts this Saturday in Lisbon to elect a successor to João Cotrim Figueiredo in the leadership, for the first time in the history of the party, in which there is an internal dispute with more than one list for the leadership.
About 2,300 members – out of 6,000 – have signed up for this two-day meeting, which is taking place at the Lisbon Congress Center. It is these liberal activists who on Sunday will elect the national bodies of the party, including the executive committee, and, consequently, the new president of the IL.
Rui Rocha and Carla Castro, deputies and members of the outgoing leadership, as well as national councilor José Cardoso head the three lists presented to the executive committee, thus contesting the seat that João Cotrim Figueiredo decided to leave vacant, leading to this early election.
In counting shotguns, Rui Rocha enjoys from the first moment the support of João Cotrim Figueiredo and all the deputies who have publicly expressed their position, while Carla Castro has with him the first Liberal President Miguel Ferreira da Silva and former presidential candidate Thiago Mayan Gonçalves.
Former leader and deputy Carlos Guimarães Pinto remains, as usual since he left the party’s presidency, far from these internal disputes and will not even go to the convention.
Whoever wins the election will become the fourth president in the history of the party, which is just over five years old.
Due to an internal dispute, the electoral process for this convention, which will be voted on electronically, will be confirmed with the help of a consultant hired for the purpose, a party official told Lusa on Thursday.
According to the provisions of the convention, elections to national bodies “are conducted by direct, personal, secret ballot and pass through an online voting system”, while all other votes are public.
According to the same document, “the proposal that receives a simple majority is approved by the National Assembly as a global strategy proposal,” and “the executive committee elects the list of supporters of the global strategy proposal with the largest number of votes.” .
In addition to the executive committee, members will have to vote – electronically, as part of it will participate remotely – on five lists for the National Council and on four lists that are submitted to both the Jurisdictional Board and the Supervisory Board.
The chosen stage was again the Lisbon Congress Center, but this time in a larger space than at the last major meeting.
This Saturday morning, attention will be focused on a presentation by João Cotrim Figueiredo announcing the proposals for a global strategy and the corresponding lists for the board, as well as lists of candidates for other national bodies.
José Cardoso’s proposal to the alternative regime to consider holding a second round of these internal elections also promises to mark the start of work.
Proposals for global and sectoral strategy will also be discussed, as well as regular speeches by registered members.
Elections are scheduled for Sunday morning, from which elected bodies will come out and take office, and the congress will end, according to tradition, with a speech by the one who will be elected to the post of president of the executive committee.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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