Mariana Leitão was elected today as the new leader of the Liberal Initiative, securing 73% of the votes with a 27% abstention rate, marking her as the fifth president of the party and the first woman to hold the position.
The party reported that 672 valid votes were cast, with 493 members voting in favor of Mariana Leitão and 179 opting for abstention.
Mariana Leitão succeeds Rui Rocha, who served from 2023 to 2025 and announced his resignation on May 31, citing insufficient results obtained by the Liberal Initiative in the legislative elections as the reason for stepping down.
As Mariana Leitão’s victory was announced at the Alcobaça pavilion, where the 10th National Convention of the Liberal Initiative is underway, some party members applauded and waved flags while remaining seated.
Before announcing the election result, the president of the National Convention, Pedro Ferreira, expressed gratitude to the outgoing leadership team led by Rui Rocha.
“To all those who are stepping down from their positions, on behalf of the convention and all members of the Liberal Initiative, a big thank you for your commitment, dedication, and hard work,” he said, as members gave a standing ovation to the previous leadership.
In her list for the party’s leadership election, Mariana Leitão retained 60% of the members from Rui Rocha’s previous Executive Committee, with 15 leaders staying on and 10 newcomers joining. The number of members remains exactly the same (25), as does the proportion of women (24%).
Among the newcomers are two former supporters of Carla Castro, who contested the IL leadership against Rui Rocha at the February 2023 convention: João Cascão, whom the former deputy had proposed for secretary-general, and Eunice Baeta.
Mariana Leitão also proposes the promotion of deputy Mário Amorim Lopes to vice-president—previously a member—and that Rui Ribeiro, vice-president under Rui Rocha’s leadership, be the next secretary-general of the party.
The new leadership will also continue to include IL deputies in the regional parliaments of Madeira, Gonçalo Maia Camelo, and the Azores, Nuno Barata, as well as Jorge Miguel Teixeira, a deputy to the Assembly of the Republic.
Notable departures from the party’s leadership include Miguel Rangel, who served as secretary-general since 2018, Angélique da Teresa, who was vice-president, and deputy Joana Cordeiro.
At 42 years old and holding a degree in International Relations, Mariana Leitão joined the IL in June 2019. Between 2020 and 2022, she served as president of the party’s National Council and, from 2022 to 2024, as the chief of staff for the IL Parliamentary Group.
In the 2024 legislative elections, she was elected as a deputy and assumed the role of parliamentary leader of the IL in the Assembly of the Republic, a position she continues to hold. She had also announced a presidential candidacy, which she withdrew upon announcing her bid for the party leadership.
