The headquarters of Portugal’s Socialist Party (PS) will serve as a venue from today for a series of sectorial sessions over the next five days. During these sessions, party members, former government officials, experts, and independents will discuss and contribute to the Legislative Manifesto 2025, which the party will present for the anticipated elections on May 18.
A prominent invitee for these discussions is the former European Commissioner António Vitorino, who has been suggested as a potential presidential candidate. He will participate in the session on Friday focused on “International Relations, Europe, and Defense.”
The initiative will begin with a discussion on housing in the morning, while the National Health Service (SNS) will be the topic in the afternoon.
These sectorial sessions, which will include about 12 participants, will be closed to the media. However, the initial remarks from the PS leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, will be open, according to an official party source.
In their effort to debate health issues and gather contributions for their electoral program, the PS will bring together former SNS executive director Fernando Araújo and former Directors-General of Health Graça Freitas and Constantino Sakellarides.
Other noted figures on this panel include psychiatrist Daniel Sampaio, former Health Minister António Correia Campos, ex-State Secretary Ricardo Mestre, physician Eduardo Barroso, and lawmaker Mariana Vieira da Silva, who is also vice-president of the PS Parliamentary Group in the area of health.
The housing panel will feature Ana Drago, a former BE deputy and one of the coordinators of the CES Observatory on Crises and Alternatives, alongside former government officials Marina Gonçalves and Fernanda Rodrigues.
Participants also include Filipa Serpa and António Leitão, formerly with the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation, Francisco Paiva Ribeiro from AICCOPN, architect Inês Lobo, Carlos Fernandes from the company Casais, and José Teixeira from DST.
On Thursday, discussions will cover work, wages, social security, and the “economy in transformation,” while Friday will feature the panel including Vitorino.
The start of the following week will focus on territories, local governance, agriculture and the sea, as well as the environment and climate.
The final day, Tuesday, will include a morning panel on “Democracy, Transparency, and Fundamental Rights,” with the afternoon dedicated to justice and internal security discussions.
Last Friday, Pedro Nuno Santos announced that the party would present an electoral program for the early legislative elections, updating the one used in the last elections, through a series of five-day sectorial sessions.
The coordination of this update will be managed by PS lawmaker and former JS leader Miguel Costa Matos.
Pedro Nuno Santos had announced, following last year’s European election night, that the party would organize general forums to “build with the country a programmatic and power alternative to the AD Government.”
Due to the accelerated political crisis timeline, these general forums cannot take place before the legislative elections.
