The president of Iniciativa Liberal (IL), Mariana Leitão, has expressed interest in conducting a “thorough job” within the party, which she has led since being elected last weekend with 73% of the votes.
“My focus will certainly be the future, and what I intend is to do a thorough job in IL and stay for a considerable time, as I want to face a Legislative election. I would like to take on that challenge,” she stated in an interview with RTP3 on Wednesday.
When questioned about the high turnover of IL leaders, Mariana Leitão pointed out that “most of the changes were often due to the decisions of the presidents themselves, who understood that they should do so. It is the past, and there are reasons that justify it.”
Emphasizing that “there are reasons that justify it” and that this is a matter of the past, Mariana Leitão preferred to focus on the future: “What I intend is to do a thorough job in IL and stay for a considerable time, as I want to face a Legislative election. I would like to take on that challenge.”
Confronted with the possibility that former leaders might have placed personal interests above the party, the liberal leader disagreed: “I do not agree with that statement. I do not think they put their interests ahead of the party. I even think that any of the previous leaders showed considerable detachment from the position, in the sense that they did not cling to it, regardless of the results they were having.”
“The leaders of IL, for various reasons, some also related to these very short cycles we had, understood that, for some reason, [should leave]. In the specific case of the former president Rui Rocha, the objectives he would have set were not achieved, and therefore he decided to leave. What is at stake, in any of the situations, are not personal interests, but the interests of the party, allowing other leaderships that can produce better results,” she justified.
Mariana Leitão rejected the idea that all these changes harmed the party’s assertion, which “decisively set the agenda” over the years. “And it marked numerous topics,” she added, citing tax reduction, the importance of having policies that promote economic growth, and also the reform of the state: “All these were political areas that IL put on the political agenda. Many of these topics were not talked about before, and today there is no political party that does not talk about these specific issues.”
Nevertheless, Mariana Leitão came forward with the idea of bringing “stability.” “At least one re-candidacy for the party’s leadership, I will do,” she affirmed, emphasizing that no break in this legislature is foreseen.
I would not want to be in both championships. I made the option that I thought was more relevant for the party and for the country
Speaking further about the possibility of announcing the candidacy for Belém and other roles, and confronted with statements that she was a “woman for all positions,” Mariana Leitão justified having great availability to embrace challenges. “I can bring this added value,” she assured.
“I would not want to be in both championships. I made the option that I thought was more relevant for the party and for the country,” she stated, referring to Belém.
Regarding her election, for which she was the only candidate, Mariana Leitão did not focus on the 23% of votes that were not for her: “I like to look and see that there were 2/3 who placed their trust in me […]. It is a perfectly normal result for Iniciativa Liberal and the circumstances.”
Concerning the question of being “more radical” in IL, Mariana Leitão rejected the presence of radicalism. “It was almost an irony about those who call us radicals and fanatics. Even in the debate on the State of the Nation, the Prime Minister used that expression, fanatics. There is no fanaticism, there is no radicalism, there is a deep belief in tested policies that work. The radicalism is in the defense of our ideas.”, she said.
The sole candidate for leadership, Mariana Leitão, was elected at a convention marked by Cotrim Figueiredo’s availability to run for presidentials.
Lusa | 07:35 – 20/07/2025
At 42 years old and holding a degree in International Relations, Mariana Leitão joined IL in June 2019 and served as President of the National Council of the party from 2020 to 2022, and from 2022 to 2024 as head of the Parliamentary Group’s office of IL.
In the 2024 legislative elections, she was elected as a deputy and assumed the role of parliamentary leader of IL in the Assembly of the Republic, which she holds to date. She had also announced a presidential candidacy, which she withdrew when announcing her candidacy for party leadership.
