BE is electing its new leadership this weekend at the National Convention, which will be a farewell to Katarina Martins after a decade, and two proposals will be discussed: Mariana Mortagua and Pedro Soares.
Under the motto “Taking the Country Seriously”, the XIII BE National Assembly returns on Saturday and Sunday to the Casal Vistoso pavilion in Lisbon, where 654 delegates will discuss the political orientation of the party and decide who will take over the fate of the blockers after the departure of Katarina Martins.
Thus, the blockers will start a new leadership cycle at a time when they face the challenge of shrinking the bench after poor results in early 2022 legislative elections that cut party funding and forced changes in party structure.
Precisely to deal with this situation, BE launched a fundraising campaign in early March to fund the work of this convention, which aims to increase self-financing and reduce dependence on government funding by raising funds, according to the doar.bloco page. org, a little more than seven thousand euros out of the planned 80 thousand, that is, less than 10%.
In addition to internal issues, weekend performances should not forget the criticism of the absolute majority of the PS and the current political crisis.
Unlike other large gatherings where more proposals were discussed, this time the convention delegates will discuss and vote on only two, in addition to eight platforms.
Signed by various names of the current leadership, including Katarina Martins, there appears an A proposal called “One force, many battles”, led by MP Mariana Mortagua, and that since she managed to elect 81% of the delegates who will vote, should win this convention.
“A good life for all people without exception” is what drives the proposal of Mariana Mortagua, who promises that “The Left Bloc will be the strongest opposition to the government”, while the PS is criticized for finding “an electoral formula in the growth of Chega”. try to maintain its absolute majority,” as it cannot “offer mobilizing solutions”
Proposal E is still being discussed under the motto “Multiple Block for Left Alternative – A Challenge We Can Conquer!”
Critics argue that “the idea of the Bloc’s genesis needs to be rescued” and point to the imbalance of the “cycle of electoral losses and diminishing public influence”, given that “the campaign was focused on the goal of repeating the agreement with the PS was one of the defeat factors” in the 2022 elections.
On February 14, Katarina Martins announced that she was going to leave the leadership of the party, explaining that at that moment she made a decision, “thinking that right now the Blok should start preparing for the political changes that are already there.” , then showing calmness with consistency, because I saw people with capacity and training in the party.
In an interview with Lusa, still the leader, who will leave the coordination but remain in the National Bureau and the Political Commission, announced that she will leave parliament at the end of the current legislative session after 14 years as an MP.
Mariana Mortagua confirmed that she would be a candidate for the throne and said that she had “all the people who believe that the PS majority government has given up and that it is only throwing promises over problems.”
The BE leader candidate accused António Costa’s party of seeking “absolute power to leave a country doomed to disrespect for education and health, consumed by those who speculate on prices, corroded by corruption and the ease of millionaires.”
On the same day, and also at the BE headquarters, the representative of the E movement to the congress, Pedro Soares, set the goal of stopping the path of the “loss of political, social and electoral influence” of the party through a change of course.
This Friday evening, as usual on the eve of the start of the convention, BE is promoting the international session at the same venue, which will feature party MEPs, Marisa Matias and José Gusmão, as well as guests Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) and Yunus Omarji (France Insoumise).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.