Paulo Rangel publicly presents his candidacy for leadership at 17:00 in Lisbon – News
Rangel announced this morning a decision to run for the presidency before the party’s National Council, saying that the PSD must stop being “from waiting” to become “from hope”.
“I don’t believe in a PSD whose function is to be sitting on the sofa waiting for the Costa government to fall out of maturity,” he said.
The direct amendments of the PSD were scheduled for December 4th and the Congress will take place between January 14th and 16th, in Lisbon, after the National Council has rejected (by 71 votes against, 40 in favor and 4 abstentions) the proposal of Rui Rio’s direction to suspend the internal electoral calendar until the State Budget is voted on.
“May December 4th represent the fecundation of the party, may it be capable of creating hope”, wished Rangel.
Paulo Rangel, 53, has been an MEP since 2009, having been at the top of the European list for the PSD for three consecutive times, and vice-president of the European People’s Party.
Parliamentary leader of the PSD between 2008 and 2009, under the leadership of Manuela Ferreira Leite, Rangel ran for the presidency of the PSD in 2010, getting 34.4% of the votes against 61% of Pedro Passos Coelho Aguiar Branco (3.42%) and Castanheira Clays (0.27%).
In 2017, he once again considered running for the presidency of the PSD, when Pedro Passos Coelho left, but decided not to go forward, citing family reasons.
In the last direct, in 2020, he supported the current president, Rui Rio, against Luís Montenegro and Miguel Pinto Luz, but months later he would refuse an invitation from the board to be the PSD’s candidate for the Porto City Council.
The president of the PSD, Rui Rio, has not yet clarified whether or not he will be reappointed for the position.