
The agenda for the highest body between conventions within the BE, according to an official source, includes “assessing” the municipal elections held on the 12th, where Mariana Mortágua’s party could not reverse the downward trend observed in the last elections.
In this month’s local elections, the BE went from having five councilors and 94 municipal deputies to securing one councilor in Lisbon, elected as part of a coalition with the PS, Livre, and PAN, and a total of 17 deputies across councils and parishes.
This outcome follows the legislative elections in May, reducing the party’s representation from five parliamentarians to a single deputy, the national coordinator Mariana Mortágua.
The BE’s National Board will also “analyze the presidential election context under a scenario of confirmed majority for the right across the country.” The party has already decided in a previous meeting to support Catarina Martins, a former BE coordinator, who announced her candidacy for Belém.
On the left, besides Catarina Martins, other presidential candidacies include António José Seguro, supported by the PS, António Filipe from the PCP, and Livre’s deputy Jorge Pinto.
“There will also be a discussion on the State Budget, the Government’s plan led by Luís Montenegro for the country, and the left’s response,” the source added.
The National Board will meet on Sunday, with conclusions to be announced by Mariana Mortágua in a press conference later that day.
The BE’s statutes dictate that the National Board is the highest body in the period between two National Conventions “and is responsible for directing the Movement nationally.”