The meeting of the highest governing body of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) between congresses is scheduled for 9:00 PM at a hotel in Lisbon.
The first agenda item will be an analysis of the political situation, reviewing the electoral victory in the local elections on October 12, in which the PSD regained leadership of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities and the National Association of Parishes from the Socialist Party (PS).
This marks the third national election victory for the PSD under the leadership of Luís Montenegro, adding to wins in the snap legislative elections of March 2024 and May of this year, following a loss to the PS in last year’s European elections.
Luís Montenegro, who took over as party president in mid-2022 and has led the government since 2024 in coalition with the CDS-PP, highlighted on election night that the PSD has once again become “the largest party in local government,” with more votes, mandates, city mayors, and parish presidents.
In this initial part of the meeting, there will also be a preview of the budget process, just a week before the general vote on the 2026 State Budget, at a time when the PSD/CDS-PP government’s proposal already has guaranteed approval in this initial phase, with the PS having announced its abstention.
The meeting’s agenda also includes the presentation and voting on regulations covering discipline, admission and transfer of members, electoral regulations, and the electoral calendar for district and local bodies.
These documents will be voted on at the National Council following a statute revision approved nearly two years ago in November 2023, which was initially rejected by the Constitutional Court.
After changes made at the following major meeting in October of last year, the new statutes were accepted by the Constitutional Court in a February ruling this year.
Among other changes, the statutes now detail inappropriate behavior by members that warrant either light or severe sanctions, initially outlined in the Discipline Regulation approved by the National Council in 2020 under Rui Rio’s leadership.
The main amendments to the PSD’s statutes include convening a National Convention if there is more than one candidate for party president, eliminating the requirement for current dues to vote internally, introducing electronic voting, establishing an Equality Ombudsman, implementing gender quotas in internal elections, and allowing the leadership to nominate a portion of parliamentary candidates.
The new statutes also propose a standardized electoral calendar for district, municipal, and sub-unit levels, to be voted on today at the National Council.
The core leadership team of the PSD, the Standing Committee, met last Tuesday on the local elections, arguing that voter confidence in the Prime Minister and the government “strongly contributed” to the PSD’s result.
