Mariana Mortágua, coordinator of the Left Bloc, declared on Saturday that her decision not to run again for the party’s leadership is a “personal decision” and announced that after concluding the budgetary process she started, she will also leave Parliament.
“I make this decision not only because I assume responsibility but also because I believe the Left Bloc can benefit from having other people, other faces, other voices, both in coordination and in the Assembly of the Republic,” she stated to journalists at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon.
Mariana Mortágua emphasized that it is a “personal decision, as it can only be.”
“The decision about the future of the Bloc, that is a collective decision and will happen at the next convention of the Left Bloc, emerging from the debate, first and foremost, of the various motions that are candidates to the convention and then the debate that will happen at the convention itself. It is the convention that will decide the new leadership of the Left Bloc,” she noted.
The leader of the Left Bloc also expressed “thanks to all the people, to the comrades who have made this journey – of two and a half years – so intense.”
“I have a lot of pride and confidence in the Left Bloc. I will be here for the future, I will be here to build the Left. I am also part of that future, even if not as coordinator of the Left Bloc,” she highlighted.
When asked whether her decision signifies a departure from party and political life, Mariana Mortágua pointed out that “a withdrawal from political life is an impossibility,” adding that she wants “to do politics” and “change the country’s life.”
“I want to fight for the Left, for equality, and therefore, I will certainly continue to do politics. And I will continue to do politics within the Left Bloc, contributing to the Left Bloc. I believe I have much to contribute, much to give to the Bloc and its future. Not, at this moment, as coordinator and not in the future as a deputy,” she said.
“I intend to conclude the budgetary process that I started and, after that, leave Parliament,” she affirmed.
Mariana Mortágua will not seek re-election as the leader of the Left Bloc.
This Saturday, Mariana Mortágua announced she would not seek re-election for the position of coordinator of the Left Bloc through a message sent to party members.
“I inform you that I have decided not to run for a new term as coordinator of the Left Bloc,” reads the letter, as reported by the newspaper Observador.
According to the note, Mortágua states that the decision was made with “calmness,” particularly with the calm she “received” from “all” her “comrades throughout this time.”
“I do it because I believe the Bloc will benefit from having people with better conditions than I have today in coordination and in Parliament to give voice to the party,” she wrote.
Left Bloc leader Mariana Mortágua announced she would not run for the post, admitting that the “renewal” made was insufficient and saying she leaves because she believes “the Bloc will benefit from having people with better conditions” than those she claims to have now.
[News updated at 18:50]
