Liberals voted today to choose their fourth president

The 2,300 members registered at the 7th IL National Convention will vote this Sunday to elect a new liberal president, fighting for the succession of João Cotrim Figueiredo, deputies Rui Rocha and Carla Castro and national council member José Cardoso.

The final day of the main meeting will remove doubts about who will become the fourth president in the party’s history in just over five years, after Saturday was devoted to debating proposals and exchanging criticism between competing lists.

Already after dinner on the first day, the final segment of the discussion of the proposals on the strategy was marked by “ping-pong” between Rui Rocha and Carla Castro after the “smell of change” and the candidate were mentioned in the list of candidates. focused on speech for the country.

Division and uncertainty about the outcome of these elections were notorious during the first day, given the reaction of the hall to the different performances of each of the lists.

Since some of the registrants are participating from afar, the applause is not enough to preempt the results of the vote for national bodies, which will be held electronically this Sunday morning.

Amid a raging internal dispute, the electoral process for this convention will be confirmed by the advice of a consultant hired for the purpose.

This is the first time that IL has held internal elections with more than one list for the executive committee, a calendar of early elections prompted by João Cotrim Figueiredo’s decision not to complete his mandate.

The start of work on Saturday was marked precisely by the last speech of Joao Cotrim Figueiredo, who directly responded to critics, pointed to PS António Costa and the government “in disintegration” and guaranteed that this was not a farewell, but a meeting. .

From the podium of the congress, which is again taking place in the Lisbon Congress Center, there were assurances and calls for unity within the party after the internal elections, which contrasted with more “hot” speeches and numerous accusations between different lists.

Rui Rocha said he did not want to “tickle the system” but rather “change Portugal” and outlined the goal of “breaking the bipartisanship” by ensuring that the party leaves the congress united regardless of the outcome.

Carla Castro, who managed to attract attention in her speech, asked for the creation of a party in which “members are free” and do not accept instructions on “who should be president”, without “barons and caciques”.

For his part, José Cardoso defended that his two opponents were more of the “same rice” of traditional parties, arguing that they were the only ones with a new political project.

The first candidates for the liberal leadership emerged from the bench and the outgoing executive committee, Rui Rocha and Carl Castro, while national councilor José Cardoso was the latest to join this tripartite electoral race.

If Rui Rocha has the support of João Cotrim Figueiredo, who deserved a lot of criticism from those who did not like the way the process was carried out and all the deputies who decided to take sides, Carla Castro has with her the first liberal president Miguel Ferreira da Silva and former presidential candidate Thiago Mayan Gonçalves.