The departure of Carolina Pia has been confirmed by the individual herself, who opted not to provide further details.
When queried, the leadership of PAN validated her exit, associating it with an internal inquiry prompted by the failure to present PAN’s candidacy for the 2025 legislative elections, a responsibility that fell to Carolina Pia.
“The absence of this candidacy resulted in a significant loss for the party, not only institutionally and logistically but also politically, affecting our representation and local mobilization capacity,” stated the party’s leadership in a response.
Upon being confronted with this reasoning, Carolina Pia, who initially chose not to comment on her resignation, denied any connection between the internal inquiry and her departure, clarifying that she postponed her exit until Saturday to determine if there was “room for dialogue” within the party.
Carolina Pia was responsible for the party’s district in Viseu and announced her decision last Saturday, coinciding with PAN’s national political committee meeting in Coimbra at the Escola Superior Agrária.
Top of the list for PAN in Viseu for the 2024 legislative elections—where the party ultimately did not present a candidacy for the May 18 elections—Carolina Pia was elected to the national political committee (the highest political directive body of PAN between congresses) via List B, associated with the internal opposition to the current leadership headed by Inês de Sousa Real.
Carolina Pia’s resignation marks the fourth departure from PAN’s leadership bodies following the elections on the 18th, joining Anabela Castro and Nuno Pires, who announced their resignations from the national political committee on the same day as the legislative elections, and Pedro Fidalgo Marques, who announced his resignation from the permanent political committee on Saturday (though he remains part of the national political committee).
In a statement accessed, Anabela Castro and Nuno Pires justified their departure by expressing “disagreement with the current management direction of the party,” claiming that PAN ceased to be “the ethical, respectful, coherent, and plural space that distinguished it in the national political landscape.”
On May 23, when only these two leaders’ departures were known, the spokesperson for PAN asserted that they have led the party with transparency, ensuring they have a “more than clear conscience” and refusing to entertain what they consider to be “false and unfounded” narratives about their leadership.
