The PSD will re-nominate former Secretary of State Pais Antunes for the presidency of the Economic and Social Council (CES), a source from the Social Democratic Party told Lusa this Thursday.
On Wednesday, the only candidate put forward by the PSD, former Social Democratic secretary of state Luis Pais Antunez, lost by one vote with two-thirds of the votes cast for the job.
Luis Pais Antunes received 148 votes in favor, one short of the minimum of 149 – for a total of 230 deputies – to reach the two-thirds majority needed to elect the CES president. Among the 223 deputies, there were 70 whites and five zero votes.
Today, during a meeting of the PSD parliamentary group, according to a source in this party, faction leader Hugo Soares announced his intention to repeat the candidacy of Pais Antunes for the post of President of the EEC.
This legislature’s second election for the presidency of the EEA is due to take place on Friday.
With a law degree from the University of Coimbra, Pais Antunes served as Secretary of State between 2002 and 2005 in two governments led by José Manuel Durau Barroso and Pedro Santana López.
Sociologist Sara Falcão Casaca has currently led the CES on an interim basis since February, after Francisco Assis gave up his mandate to run for the post of PS deputy in the last legislative elections.
Francisco Assis has headed the EEA since July 2020. For the first time in 2020, he was elected on the first attempt with a positive vote of 170 deputies. In April 2022, he was re-elected, also on his first attempt, to a second term, with 192 votes in favor.
According to the Constitution, “the EEA is a consultative and advisory body in the field of economic and social policy, which participates in the preparation of proposals for the main options and plans for economic and social development,” and responsibility for this rests with the Assembly of the Republic, which will elect its president by a two-thirds majority.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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