The meeting of the liberal magna starts work with a delay of more than an hour and a half

The 7th National Convention of the Liberal Initiative began today at around 11:12 am in Lisbon, more than an hour and a half late from the scheduled time, in Lisbon dressed in blue for a “more liberal Portugal”.

Work was scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m., starting around 11:12 a.m., with 790 people indoors and 281 people remote, a time at which outgoing President João Cotrim Figueiredo was scheduled to speak to members, according to the program.

The delay was justified by Luce’s official party source due to the “lack of a quorum”, which should have been 1,066 people, whether they were in person or remotely.

At about 10:15 a quorum was announced through the microphones of the congress to start work. At 11:10 am, the participants were asked to take their seats, and about two minutes later, the chairman of the congress board, Mariana Leitao, thanked them for their “patience” and greeted the participants.

The main meeting of the liberals is taking place in the largest hall of the Lisbon Congress Center, in the same place as the previous one, held just over a year ago, but this time in the largest hall of that infrastructure, the so-called central nave with the motto “Portugal is more liberal”, written on a giant screen located behind the conference table.

The official opening of the VII National Assembly, which will elect a successor to João Cotrim Figueiredo in the leadership of the Liberals, preceded the usual period of accreditation, from 08:00 to 09:00 the first candidates began to arrive, with José Cardoso being the lark.

Carla Castro followed him, now following the immobile chairman of the executive committee, Cotrim Figueiredo, and Rui Rocha was the last to enter the convention center.

At the entrance to the congress center, Rui Rocha, accompanied by dozens of people, was greeted with applause, and Carla Castro, also with a group of supporters, was greeted with applause already inside the hall, still full of participants.

Now, in a quieter room, Rui Rocha entered to applause and cries of “liberal, liberal, liberal.”

The 7th Congress of the Liberal Initiative is taking place from today to Sunday at the Lisbon Congress Center, and the approximately 2,300 members of the party registered at the main meeting will elect a successor to João Cotrim Figueiredo as leader of the party, which in the last legislative elections passed from one to eight deputies .

At the first elected convention in IL history (founded in 2017), Rui Rocha and Carla Castro, deputies and members of the outgoing board, and national council member José Cardoso compete for the presidency of the Executive Committee.