After truly abysmal results for the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda/ BE) in both the legislative elections in May (when the party lost four of its five MPs) and in the more recent municipal elections, party coordinator Mariana Mortágua has “announced” (according to Lusa) that she will not run again for party leadership, and as such, will be leaving parliament (as there can only be one BE MP, so whoever takes her place also takes her seat).
Lusa’s report yesterday seemed to suggest the decision was all Mariana Mortágua’s but Expresso explains that it was definitely influenced by ‘opposition members within the party’ who have been pushing for a change of leadership for some time.
Today, BE’s national council will be meeting, ostensibly for Mortágua to ‘respond to critics’, albeit they are now aware she is taking the exit door.
A new party leader will be voted on at the BE national convention at the end of November (at which point Ms Mortágua will leave parliament).
As one source has admitted to Expresso, what is at stake now is the survival of Bloco de Esquerda. The last two electoral contests have basically seen the party fall so far from any relevance that it will be a hard climb back.
Ms Mortágua’s decision to join another ‘fated flotilla’ of ‘humanitarian aid to Gaza’ in the run up to the municipal elections did not seem to win her any political Brownie points, in fact in many ways, it may have hastened her current situation. As she mentioned in her statement yesterday: “We are well aware of our opponents’ committed hate campaigns, but the truth is that we were unable to neutralise them.”
In its daily ‘ups and downs’ section today, Correio da Manhã said of the subject: “It has been all downhill since she took control of the party. She should have resigned after the legislative elections. Perhaps she thought the flotilla would keep her afloat. In the end, she sank”.
Source: Expresso/ Correio da Manhã/ Lusa
