In comments to Sic Notícias, Carlos Moedas praised Pinto Balsemão’s bravery and his “very unique energy,” along with his “absolutely extraordinary communication ability” and the fact that he was a “modern” man.
Moreover, “he is a man who will be greatly missed, especially in a polarized world of us against them,” Moedas highlighted. “He was a man of ‘the us and the others,’ who built bridges and connected people,” he added.
For all his virtues, “he was one of the first people I spoke to in 2021 when I decided to run for the Lisbon City Council,” Moedas stated, recalling that this also motivated his decision to award him the Medal of Honor of the City of Lisbon.
The number one militant of the PSD Francisco Pinto Balsemão passed away today, confirmed an official party source to Lusa.
The news of the 88-year-old former Prime Minister’s death was announced by the PSD President, Luís Montenegro, during the party’s National Council, prompting applause in the room.
Almost simultaneously, in a statement, Impresa, the media group he founded, announced that Francisco Pinto Balsemão died “of natural causes” and that “his final moments were spent with his family.”
Balsemão founded the weekly newspaper Expresso in 1973 during the dictatorship and SIC, Portugal’s first private television channel, in 1992.
He was also a co-founder, along with Francisco Sá Carneiro, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), later the Social Democratic Party (PSD), in 1974. Until today, he was the number one militant and a member of the Council of State, an advisory body to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
