A list of candidates for the upcoming legislative elections was approved by the Political Committee of the Lisbon Urban Area Federation (FAUL) of the Socialist Party (PS) in a recent meeting. The final approval of this list and those of other electoral constituencies is expected in the National Political Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
As in the snap elections held a year ago, Mariana Vieira da Silva, a former minister in António Costa’s government, is once again the top choice for the electoral circle of Lisbon.
In fourth place on the list is Edite Estrela, followed by Sérgio Sousa Pinto in fifth, Pedro Vaz in sixth, Isabel Moreira in seventh, Ricardo Lima in eighth, Miguel Costa Matos in ninth, and Ana Paula Bernardo in tenth. All were deputies for Lisbon during the legislature cut short by the snap elections.
Among the top 15 names—the number of deputies elected by the PS in Lisbon during the last legislative elections—Hugo Mendes features in the 14th position. Mendes is a former Secretary of State in Pedro Nuno Santos’ ministry and was associated with the controversial compensation payment to former TAP executive Alexandra Reis.
Ranked 11th is deputy and municipal coordinator André Rijo, followed by the Lisbon PS council leader and deputy Davide Amado in 12th, Maria Begonha in 13th, and Pedro Pinto in 15th, who took on the interim presidency of FAUL.
The National Political Commission of the PS is set to convene on Wednesday to finalize the lists of candidates for the anticipated legislative elections. The process is aligned with party statutes, wherein the secretary-general, Pedro Nuno Santos, designates one-third of the total positions, and the remaining two-thirds are determined by the federative political committees of each electoral circle.
