The left bloc approved candidates for the European Championship, the list was headed by Katarina Martins

Incumbent MEPs Jose Gusmão and Anabela Rodrigues will take second and third place on the Left Bloc’s list of candidates for the June 9 European elections, an official party source said on Saturday.

This Saturday, the National Council of the Left Bloc approved the party’s list of candidates for the European elections on June 9, which is headed by the former coordinator of the Left Bloc, Katarina Martins.

In the list approved and sent to the Lusa agency, second place is occupied by economist and MEP José Gusmão, elected in the last European elections in 2019, when he was also number two.

Anabela Rodriguez will be number three on this year’s list from Bloc de Esquerda to the Europeans.

The 47-year-old cultural mediator, who finished fourth at the 2019 European Championships, succeeds Marisa Matias as MEP after she took office as a member of the Portuguese Parliament.

Alexandre Abreu, Paula Cosme Pinto, Luis Fazendeiro, Aurora Ribeiro, Marcos Ferreira, Mónica Pestana and Santiago Mbanda Lima round out the top ten names on the list of 21 permanent employees, which in last place includes former Bloc deputy and University of Coimbra professor José Manuel Pureza.

The name Katarina Martins was chosen to head the list blocking Europeans at the last meeting of the party’s National Council on March 16.

At the time, Mariana Mortagua believed that Catarina Martins “is one of the leaders of the European left with the most experience and the most recognition”, being “the strongest candidate the left can present”.

After a decade of leading BE, during which she led the party to its best but also one of its worst results in the 2022 legislative elections, Catarina Martins handed over testimony to Mariana Mortagua last year at the XIII National Convention.

Katarina Martins was BE coordinator from 2012 to 2023.

In the last European elections, the Left Bloc came third with 9.82% of the vote, electing two MEPs.