“Sad news to end the day. Francisco Pinto Balsemão has passed away. To the whole family, my solidarity and my deepest and heartfelt condolences,” Carreiras wrote late Tuesday night on his Facebook page.
The current mayor, who has reached the term limit for the Lisbon district municipality, added: “Francisco Pinto Balsemão was a founder of the PPD with Francisco Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota, my lifelong party, a true and genuine social democrat, and honored me by being my sponsor in the three campaigns for the Cascais City Hall.”
“He is for me a reference of humanism, citizenship, and a Great Portuguese,” concluded Carreiras, who will pass the leadership on Saturday to vice-president Nuno Piteira Lopes (PSD), elected on the 12th by the Viva Cascais coalition (PSD/CDS-PP).
Also on social media, the coalition led by Piteira Lopes expressed “deep regret for the passing of Francisco Pinto Balsemão,” who lived in Cascais.
“A remarkable figure in Portuguese political and media life, founder of the Social Democratic Party and former Prime Minister of Portugal, Francisco Pinto Balsemão leaves a legacy of integrity, dedication to public service, and unwavering defense of democracy,” the message reads.
“His vision and commitment to press freedom and political pluralism contributed decisively to the consolidation of the democratic regime in Portugal,” the coalition added, extending in this “time of mourning,” heartfelt “condolences to the family, friends, and all those who were directly or indirectly inspired by his example of citizenship and leadership.”
Francisco Pinto Balsemão, a former PSD leader, ex-prime minister, and founder of Expresso and SIC, died on Tuesday at the age of 88.
Balsemão founded the weekly newspaper Expresso in 1973 during the dictatorship, SIC, the first private television in Portugal, in 1992, and the media group Impresa.
In 1974, after the April 25 Revolution, he founded the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), later the Social Democratic Party (PSD), with Francisco Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota. He led two governments after Sá Carneiro’s death, between 1981 and 1983, and remained a member of the Council of State, an advisory body to the President of the Republic, until his death.
