Mariana Vieira da Silva reiterated her stance that the internal elections within the Socialist Party (PS) should have been held after the local elections, expressing that she will not run for the role of party secretary-general as “dividing the party [before other elections] would not be appropriate.”
In an interview with Antena 1, the Member of Parliament and former Minister of the Presidency in António Costa’s government emphasized that “an electoral contest so close to the local elections would divide the party in a way that is not useful at this moment.” However, she lamented that the choice to hold internal elections now results in the PS missing out on “an opportunity.”
“It seems to me that the PS will miss an opportunity to link the reflection, which many have mentioned, to the choices made in programs and leaders, but this should occur after the local elections. All my contacts within the PS did not reveal an impossibility of having a contest; that is, I do not conclude that there is no space, but I conclude that nobody wanted an electoral contest at a time like this, so close to the local elections. The option was to proceed quickly, and in this context, I believe dividing the party would not be right,” she stated.
Mariana Vieira da Silva admits that “the timing of the elections was decisive” for her decision not to run. Nonetheless, she assured Antena 1 that she made this decision without “any drama,” considering that running for PS secretary-general “was never an ambition or a dream” for her.
The real issue, according to the socialist MP, is that “one of the things the PS should do but will not do is consider who is best equipped to lead the party, rather than relying solely on individual aspirations.”
“Individuals’ personal aspirations are relevant but are not the fundamental aspect. What a political party should do is consider who among its members is best suited to represent the space, program, measures, and attitude that the PS desires,” she highlighted.
Regarding José Luís Carneiro, Mariana Vieira da Silva noted that she worked with him and believes “he was a very good Minister of Internal Administration. However, it is not his track record that is in question. What is in question is that the PS selected the presumptive future leader “before reflecting, before choosing the strategy it wants to follow,” which raises doubts about choosing “a good leader.”
“Even in the end, we could choose this [José Luís Carneiro], but the path should be different, as this path would open up the debate the PS needs,” she concluded.
