In an official statement, the federative structure accused Liliana Pimentel, who has announced an independent candidacy for the municipal council, of promoting the “irregular registration of 234 individuals as members without proper submission and approval by the District Secretariat, as required by the Statutes,” during the preparation process for the internal elections held in September 2024. This was allegedly done with the complicity of Daniel Antão, the then vice-president of the Federation.
“These registrations were deemed approved by the aforementioned former vice-president, based on supposed Secretariat meetings allegedly held in December 2023 and February 2024, which did not occur,” the PS stated in the note, emphasizing that the strategy was clearly aimed at “ensuring Liliana Pimentel’s victory in the internal elections.”
The Coimbra District Federation noted that “given the seriousness of the facts, a national disciplinary process was initiated against the then vice-president of the Federation, which resulted in Daniel Antão’s suspension as a PS member for one year for irregularly approving the registrations without a decision from the competent body.”
The socialist structure highlighted that a criminal process is currently underway against Daniel Antão for the illegal approval of these registrations, and the Constitutional Court is reviewing the legality of the internal elections for the council, “through ongoing annulment actions.”
“Given the lack of conditions to ensure legitimate and representative leadership, and faced with Liliana Pimentel’s repeated refusal to accept consensual solutions, the Coimbra District Federation of the PS was forced to assume control of the candidate selection process, in strict compliance with the Statutes and internal democracy,” the statement reads.
The party also mentioned that, “as of [September 2024], the PS in Condeixa-a-Nova was divided into two blocks of similarly sized members with irreconcilable positions, making it impossible to build a stable solution based on leadership emerging from a tainted process.”
Liliana Pimentel had been chosen by the Municipal Political Commission to lead the socialist candidacy for the council of Condeixa-a-Nova, but the process was taken over by the District Federation, with the name of the current president of the Municipal Assembly, António Figueiredo, later being suggested for the top of the list.
At the beginning of April, the former mayor resigned from her position and left the PS, of which she had been a member since 2005, accompanied by the mass resignation of over 200 members.
She announced her candidacy for the presidency of the Condeixa-a-Nova Council under the newly established independent movement Condeixa.Novos Caminhos last week.
The Coimbra district considered that, despite the episodes that have recently marked the internal life of the party in Condeixa-a-Nova, the PS “is not to be confused with individual interests or personal projects.”
“The party exists to serve the people, never to be used as an instrument of personal assertion or excessive ambitions,” it asserted.
The Coimbra District Federation stated that it remains vigilant over all maneuvers that “undermine political ethics, internal legality, and the good name of the PS, acting firmly whenever necessary to protect the integrity of its structures and the trust of members and the public.”
