“Today, we bid farewell to a true senator of Portuguese democracy,” stated Rui Moreira in a social media post.
“It was with deep respect, great admiration, and heartfelt gratitude that I presented the Keys to the City to Francisco Pinto Balsemão in September 2023,” the Porto Mayor recalled.
He added, “For this reason, I declare a day of municipal mourning” for Wednesday.
Rui Moreira also extended his “heartfelt condolences” to the family, friends, and the Impresa group, the company of Pinto Balsemão.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão, the number one official of the PSD, passed away today, confirmed an official party source to Lusa.
The news of the former prime minister’s death was announced by PSD leader Luís Montenegro during the party’s National Council meeting, where applause was heard in the room.
Balsemão founded the weekly newspaper Expresso in 1973 during the dictatorship, the first private television station SIC in Portugal in 1992, and the media group Impresa.
In 1974, following the April 25th revolution, he co-founded, with Francisco Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota, the Democratic People’s Party (PPD), later known as the Social Democratic Party PSD. He led two governments after Sá Carneiro’s death, between 1980 and 1983, and was a member of the Council of State, an advisory body to the President of the Republic, until now.
