Patrícia Gilvaz announced on Tuesday that she will not stand as a candidate for the Liberal Initiative (IL) party in the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for May 18. This marks the second departure from the party’s ranks in one day following Bernardo Blanco’s announcement.
“It is time to open a new chapter. I will not be on the candidate list for this legislative election. It is time to embrace new challenges, focusing on my professional and personal growth, continuing to do what has always driven me: helping others”, declared the 27-year-old lawmaker on social media.
“This is a pause in politics, but not in my civic involvement”, she emphasized.
In her announcement, Gilvaz explained that she decided to enter politics with the “very clear objective” of championing the ideas she believes “could lift our country out of the stagnation cycle in which it has been trapped for decades.”
“In 2022, I embraced the challenge of giving my generation a voice in the Assembly of the Republic. It was three years of intense effort, personal sacrifices, but significant learning and remarkable achievements. There were more than five elections in five years,” she highlighted, noting “it was a privilege to represent the ideas and values of the Liberal Initiative”.
A stage in this marathon closes with pride and gratitude.
In 2020, I decided to get off the couch and enter politics with the very clear aim of defending ideas I believe are capable of lifting our country from the cycle of stagnation that has lasted decades.
From… pic.twitter.com/9IH3Ddb20H
— Patrícia Gilvaz (@patriciagilvaz) March 25, 2025
On Monday, IL’s national advisor Bernardo Blanco also announced that he will not run as a candidate in the upcoming legislative elections, opting instead to return to the private sector and launch a civic project.
“See you later! It was an honor to be a deputy, thank you! Now I’m back in the private sector”, read a social media post by Bernardo Blanco.
See you later! It was an honor to be a deputy, thank you! Now I’m back in the private sector.
It was almost 6 intense years in the Assembly of the Republic. First in 2019 as João Cotrim Figueiredo’s advisor and since 2022 as a Deputy of the Liberal Initiative.
It was a privilege to be elected… pic.twitter.com/2w6l7eULwq
— Bernardo Blanco (@BernardoMBlanco) March 24, 2025
Having been elected for the first time in the 2022 legislative elections and re-elected in 2024, Bernardo Blanco stated it was “a privilege to be elected and cherished by so many Portuguese” and “an honor to represent Portugal abroad many times.”
