The names have been included in the lists approved today by the National Council of the PSD, with only three abstentions, which see the CDS-PP taking the fourth spot in Lisbon and the second in Porto.
Unlike the events of 2024, the PPM will not be part of the pre-electoral coalition for the early legislative elections on May 18, with the coalition’s name set to be formalized in the coming days.
Excluding the candidate lists are MPs Luís Newton and Carlos Eduardo Reis, who suspended their parliamentary mandates in the current legislature following accusations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Tutti Frutti case. This investigation, ongoing since 2018, examines alleged favoritism to PS and PSD members.
Margarida Saavedra, initially named a defendant in the same case but later not charged, is on the Lisbon list in an eligible position (12th).
By the evening, the top candidates for all districts had been disclosed, excluding the Azores and Madeira, for which Paulo Moniz and Pedro Coelho will again lead the lists.
The top candidates include 11 of the current government’s 17 ministers (16 nominated by the PSD), with Miguel Pinto Luz, a former leader of the capital district, joining as the second candidate in Lisbon.
Consequently, those excluded from the lists are Minister Pedro Duarte—expected to run for the Porto City Council—along with the Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, the Minister of Labor, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, and the Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodrigues.
The approved lists also consist of various current State Secretaries, such as Emídio Sousa, Silvério Regalado, Alexandre Homem Cristo, Clara Marques Mendes, Carlos Abreu Amorim, Inês Domingos, and Cristina Vaz Tomé.
Announced as a municipal candidate for Guimarães, Ricardo Araújo appears second for Braga, following a statement by PSD Secretary-General Hugo Soares that these candidates were not initially excluded.
The JSD leader, João Pedro Louro, not nominated by his Setúbal division and not currently a deputy, is placed in an eligible position in Lisbon (11th), while another young deputy, Ana Gabriela Cabilhas, has moved up to third on the Porto list (previously 12th).
In addition to PSD adjunct secretaries Paulo Cavaleiro and Ricardo Carvalho, and municipal coordinator Pedro Alves, Secretary-General Hugo Soares, already announced as the lead candidate for Braga, appears in eligible positions.
[News updated at 00h01]
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