Mariana Leitão, the parliamentary leader of Iniciativa Liberal (IL), is set to be the sole candidate in the party’s internal elections for president, scheduled for July 19. Her proposed leadership team includes former supporters of the ex-deputy Carla Castro.
The deadline to submit candidacies for IL’s Executive Committee expired at midnight on Friday. However, the party’s press office only disclosed the number of candidates on Sunday night, stating they wished to inform party members before releasing the information to the media.
According to the party, Mariana Leitão is the only candidate for the leadership of IL in the internal elections scheduled for their 10th National Convention on July 19 in Alcobaça.
In the list proposed by Mariana Leitão for the party’s leadership, which was also released on Sunday, Rui Rocha, who resigned from leadership on May 31, will leave the Executive Committee. Deputy Mário Amorim Lopes, previously a board member, is proposed to be vice president.
André Abrantes Amaral, who led the IL list in Leiria during the last legislative elections and was a board member, is also proposed for vice president, along with Paulo Trezentos, who was part of the party’s Oversight Council.
Among the current vice presidents, Ricardo Pais Oliveira is the only one to retain his role, while Deputy Angélique da Teresa leaves the Executive Committee and Rui Ribeiro replaces Deputy Miguel Rangel as secretary-general.
In Mariana Leitão’s proposed list for the Executive Committee, former supporters of ex-deputy Carla Castro, who contested IL leadership with Rui Rocha at the February 2023 convention but lost with 44% of the vote, are included. She later left the party.
Mariana Leitão proposes João Cascão, who was initially proposed by Carla Castro as secretary-general, to serve as a board member in the Executive Committee. Eunice Baeta, who, according to IL, “was with Carla Castro and then with the Unidos pelo Liberalismo movement,” led by Tiago Mayan Gonçalves and Rui Malheiro, is also included.
In a brief note accompanying the proposed list for IL’s Executive Committee, Mariana Leitão claims to have built “a renewed and very competent team with individuals representing various trends and sensibilities of the party, geographically, ideologically, and politically.”
“Not everyone was on the same side in past political battles within IL, but today they unite to build the Iniciativa Liberal that Portugal so greatly needs,” the note reads.
IL will choose its new leader and direction at the 10th National Convention on July 19 in Alcobaça, following Rui Rocha’s resignation as president from 2023 to 2025, citing the party’s insufficient results in the legislative elections.
In those legislative elections, IL secured 5.36% and nine deputies, one more than in the 2024 elections.
Less than a week after Rui Rocha’s resignation, Mariana Leitão announced her candidacy for party leadership in a social media post declaring her desire “to unite a movement that inspires change in the country.”
“Not afraid to be liberal, with the courage to raise our liberal flags without any hesitation, without moderating the affirmation of liberal values in all their fullness,” read Mariana Leitão’s message.
After the announcement, names like Deputy Mário Amorim Lopes or Bernardo Blanco, who were mentioned as potential leader candidates, stated they would not enter the race, with Amorim Lopes endorsing Mariana Leitão. Additionally, the internal opposition faction to Rui Rocha did not present an alternative candidate.
