“Indications suggest that the Left Bloc has achieved a modest result in these municipal elections. Nevertheless, we positively assess many of the coalitions we are part of, not only in Lisbon but throughout the country,” stated Mortágua to journalists at BE headquarters in Lisbon, the bloc’s command center for the night, as votes from 269 parishes were yet to be counted.
When asked whether the night’s results reveal that the strategy followed did not succeed, Mortágua replied that “the Left Bloc’s strategy is correct and provides a course for the future” in a context of a “shift to the right,” which requires dialogue on the left.
The BE leader emphasized that after a “very deep shift to the right” in the country seen in the legislative elections, the left acted according to the demands of the context and “found paths for dialogue and convergence,” which, “regardless of the final results that will be determined,” are positive.
“We can conclude that there is a continuity of the cycle of shift to the right that came from the legislative elections. It’s undeniable. We have not left that cycle; there is a shift to the right that is noticeable and can be concluded from the preliminary results of the municipal elections,” she added.
Mariana Mortágua expressed gratitude for the work of the Bloc’s candidates across the country, reserving a “more in-depth and thorough” analysis of the night’s results for later.
“We rose to the responsibility of the moment and did exactly what we said was necessary. We will have time to analyze these results,” she stated.
The Bloc’s coordinator argued that the fact that the Left Bloc is part of dozens of coalitions makes it difficult to account for the mandates attributed to the Bloc’s candidates and assured that the party would convene the National Table to evaluate the results.
The BE leader was also asked whether her presence on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza might have affected the party’s results, a connection she denied, arguing that the “party has many highly qualified people to represent it” and that it is an advantage “to have more voices and faces” representing the Bloc.
After a quiet election night with few people at the party’s headquarters, including veteran Bloc members Fernando Rosas and Francisco Louçã, Mariana Mortágua concluded the activities at the headquarters and headed to the campaign headquarters of Socialist Alexandra Leitão.
