The CDS-PP will meet this Saturday and Sunday in congress to re-elect Nuno Melo as president and elect new bodies, about a month after the legislative elections that marked the party’s return to parliament and government.
The 31st Centrist Congress will take place in Pavilhão Cidade de Viseu and work is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with the participation of Congress President José Manuel Rodrigues.
Work continues to report on the activities of the National Jurisdictional Council, the General Secretariat and the National Political Commission.
Still in the morning, a presentation and vote on the proposal for a new Declaration of Principles of the CDS-PP, prepared by a group led by António Lobo Xavier, is scheduled. The document is called “Free, Democratic and Social” and is intended to update the original text from July 1974.
New features of the new Declaration of Principles, unveiled in September, include a rejection of populism and a guarantee that CDS respects “personal guidelines.”
The text, updated 50 years after the founding of the party, will be presented by Congress President José Manuel Rodrigues, who is also the leader of the CDS/Madeira and president of the regional parliament.
Current CDS-PP president Nuno Melo, who is running again to lead the party without opposition, is expected to appear before Congress at around 12:30 p.m. to present his proposal for a global strategy.
Nuno Melo’s global strategic movement is called “Time to Grow.” The People’s Youth structure, representing young centrists, also presented the Securing the Future movement.
In the document, the centrist leader argues that the announcement of the party’s disappearance was a “hasty assessment” and admits that he wants to launch a “realistic but confident project of consolidation and growth.”
Discussion on the proposals, a document which aims to “establish the overall orientation of the party,” will last until 9:30 p.m., followed by voting.
Nuno Melo, a former MEP and now Minister of National Defense, has led the CDS-PP since 2022 and is running again for a two-year term until 2026.
According to an official source in the party, former presidents Jose Ribeiro e Castro and Manuel Monteiro will be present at the congress, but “there may be more confirmations.”
The program for the first day of the 31st substantive meeting also includes the presentation of three sector strategy proposals: “Agriculture and the environment – a powerful alliance for climate change mitigation”; “Right to Sustainability”; “The need for urgent ‘marketing’.”
The work ends with the presentation, discussion and voting of proposals to change the party charter.
According to a source in the congress organization, about 1,300 delegates will attend the event.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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