A hand-written and altered list, reportedly submitted past the deadline, has been accessed by Lusa. This list was promptly rejected by Judge João Paulo Pereira, president of the District Judicial Court of Braga.
In his ruling, the judge stated that the submitted document could not be considered as a candidate list for the Assembly of the Republic election. It only included the names “Maria José” and “António Pedro Rebelo” in a vague and insufficient manner, preventing proper personal identification.
Moreover, the ruling highlighted that the submission was merely a hand-written note, which was crossed out and unsigned, failing to identify the individual who submitted it.
Thus, the judge noted the absence of the author’s identity, the capacity under which it was submitted, and any legitimate grounds for proposing a “Braga List of PCTP/MRPP – Portuguese Workers’ Communist Party” in court.
The reverse side of the sheet contained only a mobile number.
The judge further emphasized that the document was submitted to the court six minutes past the filing deadline.
Consequently, the ruling added that even if the document could be considered a candidate list, its late submission would have led to its outright rejection.
An official from PCTP/MRPP informed Lusa that an appeal has been lodged with the Constitutional Court. The party argues that the list was submitted on time and that there is a 48-hour window to complete the candidate data.
Fifteen parties and coalitions have been confirmed to contest the legislative elections in the Braga constituency. The main contenders include AD (Hugo Soares), PS (José Luís Carneiro), Chega (Filipe Melo), and Iniciativa Liberal (Rui Rocha), who will retain their top spots for 2024.
These four parties shared the 19 parliamentary seats available in the Braga constituency during the 2024 elections. AD secured eight seats, PS six, Chega four, and Iniciativa Liberal one.
Portugal is set for early legislative elections on May 18, called by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on March 13. This decision came two days after a motion of confidence in the Government, a coalition of PSD/CDS-PP, was defeated, leading to its resignation.
