The Political Committee of the Left Bloc met on Thursday, October 16th, to discuss the main electoral results. DN knows that the meeting, via videoconference, took around two hours and that it was the coordinator, Mariana Mortágua, who took over the main points under discussion.
The electoral results, with a councilor elected in Lisbon, fell short. After mentioning that the performance had been “modest”, Mortágua took on the disappointment and “bad results” more emphatically.. In 2021, the Bloc had achieved 159 representations in parishes, now it stands at 31. It went from four councilors to one, in Lisbon, and also suffered an abrupt drop in municipal deputies, from 94 to 17, including in this number coalitions with Livre. Six municipal deputies on their own lists were elected in Coimbra, Moita, Porto, Torres Novas, Horta and Vila do Porto.
Coalitions with Livre, however, are not the problem according to the party’s highest bodies, but rather the less favorable situation. It was even argued that the way for the Bloc to seek election in Municipal Chambers and Assemblies would have to involve joining forces in the territory. Even though it presented more of its own candidacies than in coalition (there were 22 for the territory, 20 more than in 2021), the reading is that the association with left-wing partners can continue to deserve trust and these were not the reasons for meager results. Remember that, as DN reported, the opposition motions at the next Convention highlight that there was little clarity, with different junctions in various places, and some loss of protagonism for Livre, which, through the Legislative elections, gained propensity, with six deputies elected.
Jorge Costa, Isabel Pires, Joana Mortágua, José Gusmão, Pedro Filipe Soares and José Soeiro were some of those who analyzed the points under discussion. Catarina Martins’ candidacy, which is presented on Saturday in Porto, was also discussed: there were guarantees that financing will not be problematic due to a campaign that wants to be contained. The name of the MEP and former BE leader, according to the coordination, is a possibility of electorally relaunching the Bloc and grouping votes that transcend the party.
Next weekend, on October 26th, there will be a meeting of the National Board. Unlike the Political Committee, to which opposing motions were invited, there are no plans to include elements that do not already belong to the party’s National Board.