Former Portuguese PM Passos Coelho will not reapply for PSD’s leadership
Following this Sunday's results, Pedro Passos Coelho says he wanted to make a decision quickly: he will not quit, but will not reapply for the party's leadership either.
Pedro Passos Coelho, former Portuguese prime minister, confirmed he will not reapply for PSD’s leadership after the result of this Sunday’s municipal elections, which he classified as “bad” and “burdensome”. “This is the most logical decision”, stated Passos Coelho, highlighting he is not quitting, but will open the way to a new leadership for the Portuguese Social Democratic Party, which has “better chances at moving forward than any leadership headed by me”. “My stubbornness does not concern job positions”, he stated.
Passos Coelho started off by expressing his surprise over the results: “In terms of the number of municipalities, this was the worst result since 1982. It doesn’t leave much maneuver room… the result was bad and burdensome”, he stated. The former Portuguese PM also criticized the Left Block (BE) and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) for not acknowledging their negative results, and highlighted the results from the Portuguese Democratic and Social Center Party (CDS), namely Assunção Cristas’ leadership in Lisbon.
"I said I wouldn’t quit, and I won’t. I have not presented my resignation, but I also did not escape unscathed. I must take away the consequences from these results. And the consequence is expressed by my decision not to present another application for PSD’s leadership. ”
The municipal elections’ results “also penalized the national leadership. I said I wouldn’t quit, and I won’t. I have not presented my resignation, but I also did not escape unscathed. I must take away the consequences from these results. And the consequence is expressed by my decision not to present another application for PSD’s leadership”, Passos Coelho stated.
“This decision concerns not only the responsibility I take for the results, but also the assumption that a new leadership for the Portuguese Social Democratic Party has better chances at moving forward than any leadership headed by me”, Passos Coelho states. He also believes that not reapplying “is the most logical decision”, more so because his stubbornness “does not concern job positions”.
