🇵🇹 Portugal's politics and elections 2.0

[Mike88]

2021 local elections campaign budgets:

By party/coalitions:

11,430,000€ PS
  9,855,000€ PSD+coalitions
  5,390,000€ CDU
     989,000€ BE
     749,000€ CDS
     646,000€ CHEGA
     343,000€ NC
     321,000€ IL
     168,000€ PAN
       30,700€ Livre
       20,000€ PPM
         9,000€ RIR
         5,500€ MPT
         2,500€ PDR
         2,200€ PTP
         1,600€ E (former PNR)
         1,500€ MAS
         1,050€ PCTP/MRPP        
  2,639,000€ Independents

32,604,050€ Total

Volt, JPP and Alliance didn't present their budgets yet.

By mayoral race: (Big cities like Lisbon, Porto, Setúbal, Coimbra)

Lisbon:

300,000€ PSD/CDS/PPM/MPT/Alliance
236,500€ PS/Livre
100,000€ CDU
  59,000€ BE
  41,000€ IL
  33,000€ PAN
  16,000€ CHEGA

795,000€ Total

Porto:

316,000€ Rui Moreira
200,000€ PSD
167,000€ PS
  57,000€ CDU
  48,000€ BE
  16,000€ CHEGA
  14,500€ PAN
  10,000€ PPM
    4,600€ Livre
       400€ E (former PNR)

833,500€ Total

Setúbal:

140,000€ CDU
  75,000€ PS
  61,000€ NC/PPM
  46,000€ PSD
  16,000€ BE
  12,000€ CDS
  10,000€ RIR/PDR
    8,000€ CHEGA
    6,000€ IL
    3,000€ PAN

378,000€ Total

Coimbra:

114,400€ PS
100,000€ PSD/CDS/NC/PPM/Alliance/RIR/Volt
  50,000€ CDU
  30,000€ CpC (Independent)
    8,000€ CHEGA
    4,000€ IL
    2,095€ PAN
    1,500€ PDR/MPT

310,000€ Total

[Mike88]

2021 election debates: RTP to host 24 debates, SIC and TVI will focus on Lisbon and Porto mainly.

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1426119012291842052

Local elections: Lisbon and Porto with three scheduled debates, RTP makes 24

TV networks are finalizing the debate schedule for the 2021 local elections. The debate season will kick off on RTP, but SIC will start with a debate between the main candidates for Lisbon city on 2 September: PS, PSD, CDU, BE, CHEGA, IL and PAN. The next day, there will be a debate between the candidates for Porto city: Rui Moreira, PS, PSD, CDU, BE, CHEGA and PAN. SIC plans to host at least 4 more debates in other highly contested races. TVI will host at least two debates with the candidates for Porto and Lisbon, still with no date.

RTP will host the most debates. The public network will host 18 debates for the 20 capital district races, and 4 more debates on these races: Almada, Odemira, Amadora and Figueira da Foz. The debates will start in 10 days, on 23 August and will end on 15 September with the Lisbon debate. In the previous day, 14 September, the Porto debate will be broadcast.

[Mike88]

2021 local elections new polling:

Pitagórica poll for Vila Franca de Xira city - PS incumbent, 138,000 inhabitants:

Vote share %: (compared with 2017)

36.5% PS (-2.6)
31.2% CDU (+0.7)
10.2% PSD/CDS/PPM/MPT (-3.4)
  7.0% BE (nc)
  6.3% CHEGA (new)
  3.5% PAN (-0.4)
  5.3% Others/Invalid (-0.6)

Poll conducted between 30 July and 3 August 2021. Polled 402 voters.

Eurosondagem poll for Figueira da Foz city - PS incumbent, 59,000 inhabitants:

Vote share %: (compared with 2017)

38.0% Pedro Santana Lopes (new)
34.3% PS (-15.7)
  8.6% PSD (-19.9)
  3.8% BE (-0.5)
  2.8% CHEGA (new)
  1.5% CDS (-0.3)
  1.3% CDU (-5.2)
  9.7% Others/Invalid (+0.9)

Poll conducted between 1 and 2 August 2021. Polled 1,048 voters. MoE of 3.00%.

I'm starting to think that CDU will actually increase compared with 2017, which is contrary to the downwards trend of the coalition in national polls, interesting. The Figueira da Foz poll... WOW!, but it's from Eurosondagem and it's better to wait for another polling company to confirm this.

[Mike88]

- And finally, there's another "war" between President/Opposition and the Government brewing:

The media is reporting, today, that the government is preparing yet another legal battle between them and President Marcelo/Opposition because of two bills regarding teachers hirings. In a showdown that resembles the one in 2019, where the government forced the opposition to drop a bill regarding teachers wages under the threat of Costa's resignation as PM, the President signed a bill, passed by the opposition against the wishes of the government, that forces the government to open hirings of teachers for artistic schools. The other bill, still not signed by Marcelo but he seems ready to sign it also, forces the government to review teachers recruitment regime in Basic Education. The government is furious, once again, and threatens to take these bills to the Court, as they argue that Parliament violated the Constitution by passing bills that are the sole responsibility of the government.

President Marcelo has already reacted by saying he's not worried by the threat from Costa's government and that he's "peacefully doing doctrine" and being consistent with what he has done on other occasions." Marcelo is also being criticized for his reaction to the Courts ruling on social supports, as Marcelo said "he is also happy with the decision of the Court."

The Government confirms they have sent the Teachers bill to the Constitutional Court:

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1427600011307765763

Teachers: Powers of Minority Governments Part II: Government sends law on teachers recruitment to the Constitutional Court

The Government threatened and they did it. The bills on teachers hirings and recruitments are now in the Constitutional Court after the Government sent them. The bills were approved against the wishes of the government and signed by President Marcelo, but Costa's government says the bills violate the Constitution as, like above mentioned, Parliament ruled on something that is the sole responsibility of the government.

This is the 2nd time in less than 6 months that Government sends a bill, approved against their wishes, to the Court. The other one, regarding social supports for independent workers affected by the pandemic, the Court sided with Costa against President Marcelo and the Opposition.

[Mike88]

2021 local election update:

- There is an ongoing brawl between PS and PSD in Seixal. The PSD-Seixal, which has become news for its irreverent campaign of putting the faces of Stalin, Che Guevara and others in party posters against the PCP, is now in a middle of a big dispute with the PS. It all started when the PSD started "changing" the street names of people or events involved in the 25 April revolution, and this created a furious reaction by the PS and PCP. A PCP councillor from Seixal posted on social media "Someone should "go after these bastards and hit them in the snout". He regretted posting it and now apologizes, but a PS MP, José Magalhães, also wrote on social media that someone should hit them but added however: "Some therapeutic sticks wouldn't solve the problem". Unlike the PCP councillor, the PS MP isn't backing down and the PSD has presented a complaint against the Socialist MP;

- The mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues (PS), is being accused of forging his doctoral dissertation. Expresso newspaper said the the University of Porto received a complaint that said that Mr Rodrigues self-plagiarized his own dissertation and didn't mentioned in the references. The mayor is refusing the claims and that all the texts are from his authorship, so there isn't a case. In next month local elections, Mr Rodrigues is expected to be reelected in a landslide, again;

- In Figueira da Foz, a recent poll has shaken things a lot. Santana's lead over PS and PSD is creating surprise, and Santana Lopes is now accusing PS and PSD of having a "secret pact" to defeat him. The PSD tried to stop his candidacy, but they only succeeded in banning the name of Santana Lopes from being on the ballot papers, not forbidding his movement to run;

Other updates when available.

[Mike88]

Aximage poll for Funchal city - PS/BE incumbent, 106,000 inhabitants:

Vote share %:

38.8% PSD/CDS
24.7% PS/BE/PAN/MPT/PDR
  3.1% CHEGA
  1.9% PTP
  0.6% PPM
  0.4% JPP
  0.4% CDU
30.1% Others/Undecided

Poll conducted between 13 and 17 August 2021. Polled 380 voters in Funchal city.

*Polls in Funchal are all over the place...

[Mike88]

Costa to decide only in 2023 if he will run for a 3rd term:

https://twitter.com/ECO_PT/status/1428617995933323265

Costa will only decide a re-run in 2023 and sees equal successors in PS

In an interview to Expresso newspaper, PM António Costa rejected that there's a tabu about a possible 3rd term run in 2023, but at the same time, said that he will only decide in 2023 what he will do. He added that he feels energized to govern in this period but also said that the PS has very capable people able to take the job of PS leader and Prime Minister. The PS will hold this year's party congress in the last weekend of August, 28-29 August, in Portimão city, Algarve. Pundits talk about rumours that Costa plans not to run in 2023 in order to become President of the European Council and succeed Charles Michel. But, currently it's only pundit talk.

[Mike88]

Not a lot of political news or campaign info as the main party leaders are still on vacation and only during the mid of this week will some party leaders start their "tours" across the country.

And, the main headlines from the local election campaign are, as usual, the weird and hilarious campaign posters from across the country. In the last few days, a PSD poster from Fornos de Algodres, Guarda, is dominating social media. Here it is:

https://twitter.com/al_antdp/status/1428725834018340866

Matança is a parish in Fornos de Algodres. "Matança" means slaughter and "Fornos" means ovens. So, you can see how ridiculous the slogans are: "All for the Slaughter, Slaughter for all" and "Ovens for all".


At the same time, there's a lot of reports of vandalism of campaign posters from across the country. Several campaign posters of PS, PSD, CDU, CHEGA and Independent movements have been torn apart or vandalized. Today, the PS candidate for Porto city filed a complaint because one of his posters in Porto was completely destroyed:

https://twitter.com/tvi24pt/status/1429127603382890496

PS posters in Porto were vandalized.

[Mike88]

2021 local elections update:

Some party candidacies are now in legal battles between courts. Here's the update:

- In Figueira da Foz, CHEGA saw their candidacy rejected because of several error found in the applications. This is the 2nd case in the party, the other being the debacle in Caminha. The local Court rejected the candidacy, but the party has appealed to the Constitutional Court;

- Also in Figueira da Foz, the ongoing legal battle between Santana Lopes and the PSD continues. After the PSD won a "half victory" when the Court said that Santana could not have his name on the ballot but only his movement name, the PSD is pressing again for the exclusion of Santana because of errors on his signature papers. The local Court rejected the PSD claims, but the party has also appealed to the Constitutional Court;

- In Coimbra city, the PS also tried to stop the mega PSD-led coalition from being accepted by the Courts. However, the local Court rejected the PS claims of irregularities in the PSD candidacy and accepted the PSD mega coalition, with CDS, NC, PPM, Alliance, RIR and Volt Portugal. At the same time, CHEGA has sent an appeal to the Constitutional Court in order to struck down the PS lists in Coimbra city, because of alledge errors in the candidacy files;

- In Madeira, the PS tried to block CDU, JPP, IL and RIR from running in the elections. The Socialists argued that these 4 parties had several errors and illegalities in their candidacies, but the local Court rejected the PS arguments;

- There's also an ongoing controversy because of President Marcelo's veto of a PS/PCP change in the local government financial recovery plan (PAEL). This plan was created during the Troika years to help municipalities in near bankruptcy and, in exchange for a government bailout, municipalities were forbidden to cut taxes or increase spending. In 6 municipalities, 5 from the PS and one from PCP, the incumbent mayors didn't follow the plan and are facing the risk of losing their mandates. In July, the PS/PCP passed a change in the plan that would pardon these 6 mayors, which received the against votes of PSD, BE, CDS, PAN, CHEGA and IL. President Marcelo has now vetoed the change saying that this change will interfere with the election results of 26 September;

- In other news, the PSD mayor of Albufeira, and running for reelection, José Carlos Rolo, was rushed to hospital, yesterday, because of a pulmonary infection, not related with Covid-19 it seems.

[Mike88]

Intercampus poll for CM newspaper/CMTV:

Vote share %:

34.7% PS (-0.1)
25.1% PSD (+1.7)
  9.1% BE (+0.1)
  7.5% CHEGA (-1.5)
  6.1% IL (+3.0)
  5.4% CDU (-1.3)
  3.5% PAN (-1.0)
  1.6% CDS (-1.2)
  0.2% Livre (-0.4)
  6.8% Others/Invalid (+0.7)

Popularity ratings: (in a scale between 0 and 5)

3.1 António Costa (+0.1)
2.8 Rui Rio (+0.1)
2.8 Catarina Martins (-0.2)
2.7 Inês Sousa Real (-0.1)
2.6 Jerónimo de Sousa (-0.1)
2.6 João Cotrim Figueiredo (nc)
2.4 Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos (-0.1)
1.9 André Ventura (-0.2)

Poll conducted between 13 and 20 August 2021. Polled 612 voters. MoE of 4.00%.

[Mike88]

PS Congress this weekend in Portimão, Algarve, with the succession of Costa in the air:

https://twitter.com/JNegocios/status/1431340550771335170

Re-elected with more than 90% in the June elections, António Costa will share the spotlight with potential successors at this weekend's PS magna meeting

Costa created a tabu about his situation in 2023 and the media is exploring possible outcomes for the PS future after Costa. The 4 main candidates to succeed Costa will be front and center in the Congress: Pedro Nuno Santos, Fernando Medina, Ana Catarina Mendes and Mariana Vieira da Silva will be seated in the main platform in the Congress, next to Costa. Very little is expected from the Congress as Costa's lead in the polls is steady, although narrowing a bit, and Costa's recent tabu about 2023 has calmed the party. However, what his possible successors will say will be interesting, although, at least, Pedro Nuno Santos will not speak to party delegates. What could the future lie ahead for the PS? Well, pundits are split in whether Costa will indeed run for another term in 2023 as there is the rumour he could succeed Charles Michel as EU Council President. Others suggest that Costa doesn't want that and will run in 2023 but possibly resign in 2025 in order to run for the 2026 Presidential elections.

Only time will tell, but a future Costa exit from the PS leadership could create havoc in the party. At the same time, the PSD will also convene in the Algarves to host a local election forum where the main party candidates will speak, but some high profile mayors and candidates will not speak, sparking more discussions about the divisions within the party:

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1431275973979349011

Carlos Carreiras, Fernando Ruas and Ricardo Rio without a stage in the local election forum

The main speakers will be Carlos Moedas from Lisbon, Vladimiro Feliz from Porto, Fernando Negrão from Setúbal and Suzana Garcia from Amadora. But high profile PSD mayors like Cascais mayor Carlos Carreiras and Braga mayor Ricardo Rio will not speak in the forum. At the moment, the PSD is a bit in an internal crisis with many PSD members predicting a catastrophic result on 26 September and that Rio's time is over. Some possible PSD leadership candidates, like Paulo Rangel, are supporting candidates across the country, while Luís Montenegro is silent and it's unclear of he will run. The PSD leadership elections are schedule for January 2022.

[Mike88]

Aximage poll for Porto city - Independent incumbent, 232,000 inhabitants:

Vote share %: (compared with the 2017 election results)

59% Rui Moreira (+15)
12% PS (-17)
12% PSD (+2)
  6% CDU (nc)
  4% BE (-1)
  2% PAN (nc)
  1% CHEGA (new)
  4% Others/Invalid (+1)

Poll conducted between 12 and 19 August 2021. Polled 820 voters in Porto city. MoE of 3.42%.

[Mike88]

PS congress ends with Costa's speech:

In his final speech to the PS congress, Costa tried to mobilize the party for the upcoming local elections and asked for a strong victory.

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1431952040410816512

Costa asks for a municipal victory and wants to give more "dignity" to young people

He went on to advise President Marcelo to have the same posture he had in his first term (2016-2021), and added by saying his proud of leading a "left alternative" and greeted PCP and BE. After asking for the mobilization of the party for the elections, Costa pressed on the decentralization of competences from national to local government and, for that reason, the PS needs a strong result as well for a good management of the Portuguese Recovery Plan. He went on to propose some measures for the upcoming 2022 budget like more focus on better working conditions for young workers, more affordable housing, and overall better working conditions to all workers. He also proposed expansion of kindergarten and for family support measures like tax deductions for a second child. Regarding the pandemic, he thanked all the NHS workers who fought against the virus but acknowledged the huge burden the pandemic had in education and proposed an almost 1 billion euros plan to recover learning for children. He ended his speech by saying that the PS doesn't have internal problems and and that this is a bummer for other parties and asked for a dignified and better future for all Portuguese.

Overall, the congress was quite boring. There was no major event from it and the discussion was all about Costa's succession in the leadership. Many congress speakers pressed that Costa can still lead the party in the next election, but Costa himself opened the door to other people to succeed him, like the Health minister Marta Temido. But, there was a "tense" moment with the most likely successor of Costa, Infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos, during the congress. Mr Nuno Santos arrived late to the congress, well after his name was announced and his seat was left empty for a period of time which sparked discussion and, according to the media, upset Costa. When asked, Costa said that "maybe he had a flat tire or overslept" but he later gave an unusual complement to Pedro Nuno Santos about his management on the TAP airlines dossier saying that he's working really hard to defend the company. Pundits defend the idea that Costa gave the TAP dossier, a very toxic and complicated case, to Mr Nuno Santos in order to hurt his future political chances, and, in fact, until now the TAP dossier has become a trainwreck. During this morning, Pedro Nuno Santos tried to remain in silence but pressed by reporters he replied: "The general-secretary is a prankster", and said nothing more to the media.

The media is saying that the PS congress looks like a fairytale, but that the PS isn't proposing nothing for the future. Op-eds from Público newspaper and others, say the Socialists are way to comfortable and confident about their current status and power and ignore discussing future policies and what's wrong in the country.

[Josecardoso17]

António Costa wants Marta Temido to be the next leader ,i think.
I remember a scene at a event about transports here António Costa sent Pedro Nuno Santos to talk to protesters just to screw him xD

[Mike88]

António Costa wants Marta Temido to be the next leader ,i think.
I remember a scene at a event about transports here António Costa sent Pedro Nuno Santos to talk to protesters just to screw him xD

Welcome back, José!!! Glad to see you're back!

Yeah, Costa definitely doesn't want Pedro Nuno Santos to be leader, but I think he will fail on that. My view is that Costa is just throwing names to the wall to see if they stick, but Nuno Santos has a lot of support in the party machine and he really, really wants to be leader. Like I said above, giving the toxic TAP dossier to Nuno Santos, was Costa's way of trying to screw him.

What I found astonishing is that Costa said that he will only decide in 2023 if he will run, but this congress and the discussions around it are just about who's next in line.

[Mike88]

Lisbon polls - PS incumbent, 545,000 inhabitants:

Eurosondagem poll. Vote share %: (compared with 2017)

38.6% PS/Livre (-3.4)
26.9% PSD/CDS/PPM/MPT/Alliance (-4.9)
  7.7% CDU (-1.9)
  6.3% BE (-0.7)
  6.3% IL (new)
  4.8% CHEGA (new)
  3.3% PAN (+0.3)
  6.1% Others/Invalid (-0.4)

Poll conducted between 23 and 26 August 2021. Polled 2,225 voters in Lisbon city.

Aximage poll. Vote share %: (compared with 2017)

51% PS/Livre (+9)
27% PSD/CDS/PPM/MPT/Alliance (-5)
  9% CDU (-1)
  4% BE (-3)
  2% CHEGA (new)
  2% PAN (-1)
  2% IL (new)
  3% Others/Invalid (-3)

Poll conducted between 14 and 21 August 2021. Polled 792 voters in Lisbon city. MoE of 3.48%.

[Mike88]

2021 local elections: Candidacies update.

Candidacies for the 2021 local elections are almost final, but in some places there are still some legal issues to be solved by Courts which could delay things. Nonetheless, this is the "almost final" map of candidacies of the 8 main parties plus Independents:

Candidacies by municipality:

Image link

Overall, the number of candidacies from all parties/coalitions are the following:

       3 Alliance
       1 Alliance/PDR
   124 BE
       1 BE/PAN/Volt/Livre
     89 CDS+other parties (PPM+MPT+Alliance+IL+NC+PDR+RIR)
       5 CDS/PSD+other parties (PPM+MPT+Alliance+IL+NC+PDR+RIR)
   305 CDU
   198 CHEGA
       3 E (former PNR)
     46 IL
       5 JPP
       8 Livre
       3 MAS
       1 MPT
       1 MPT/PDR
     22 NC
       9 NC+other parties (PPM+Alliance+RIR)
     41 PAN
       2 PCTP/MRPP
       1 PDR
       4 PDR+other parties (MPT+Alliance+RIR)
       1 PPM
   294 PS
       2 PS/Livre
       1 PS/BE/PAN/MPT/PDR
       3 PS+other parties (PAN/Livre/RIR)
   157 PSD+other parties (PPM+MPT+Alliance+NC+PDR+RIR)
   139 PSD/CDS+other parties (PPM+MPT+Alliance+IL+NC+PDR+RIR+Volt Portugal)
       5 PTP
       7 RIR
       2 RIR/PDR
       3 Volt Portugal
     90 Independents

1,576 Total

Info from this website: https://www.eyedata.pt/eleicoes/autarquicas2021.html

[Former President tack50]

I have a bit of a question on Portugal's policies regarding covid. From what I have seen, Portugal seems like the country in the EU that has the highest vaccination rate, and in fact has already surpassed what initially people thought was the threshold for "herd immunity".

Yet on the other hand, I learned recently that Portugal still has an outdoors mask mandate? I am very surprised Portugal hasn't dropped it given we did it in May

Any news on when that, or other covid restrictions will start to be lifted over there? Cause such heavy restrictions while at the same time Portugal leads Europe in vaccinations and covid seems a bit weird to me; and makes me quite worried about restrictions ever being lifted. If Portugal's 80% or so vaccination rate isn't going to be enough; what is going to be enough then?

[Mike88]

I have a bit of a question on Portugal's policies regarding covid. From what I have seen, Portugal seems like the country in the EU that has the highest vaccination rate, and in fact has already surpassed what initially people thought was the threshold for "herd immunity".

Yet on the other hand, I learned recently that Portugal still has an outdoors mask mandate? I am very surprised Portugal hasn't dropped it given we did it in May

Any news on when that, or other covid restrictions will start to be lifted over there? Cause such heavy restrictions while at the same time Portugal leads Europe in vaccinations and covid seems a bit weird to me; and makes me quite worried about restrictions ever being lifted. If Portugal's 80% or so vaccination rate isn't going to be enough; what is going to be enough then?

The vaccination program is going amazingly well in Portugal, with massive turnout of young people and basically no big anti-vaxx or anti-certificate movements. But, at the same time vaccinations rates are one of the highest in the world, the infection rate isn't going down. In fact, Spain has a lower infection rate per 100,000 than Portugal, 263.94 vs 315.32. However, some measures have been lifted: restaurants can operate until 2am; there are no restrictions in shops; the number of people allowed in weddings and other events increased, and so on. In terms of outdoors masks, Parliament is set to decide if they are lifted or not on September 8th, I assume. But the government is basically saying that in the end it will be up for individuals to decide if the use or not masks outdoors.

The outdoors mask debate is a controversial one with some specialists wanting to lift it and others no, as they argue about the beginning of the school year in mid September and the 2021 local election campaign, not to mention possible new Covid variants.

[Mike88]

Eurosondagem poll for Seixal city - CDU incumbent, 167,000 inhabitants:

Vote share %: (compared with 2017)

37.3% CDU (+0.8 ), 5 seats
32.0% PS (+0.6), 4/5
11.6% PSD (-0.2), 1
  7.3% BE (-0.2), 0/1
  2.5% IL (new), 0
  2.1% CHEGA (new), 0
  1.9% CDS/PDR/Alliance/MPT (-0.9), 0
  5.3% Others/Invalid (-0.5), 0

Poll conducted during the last week of August.

[Mike88]

Intercampus poll on the 2022 PSD leadership election:

Future PSD leader after the 2021 local elections, Vote share %: (All voters)

17.3% Paulo Rangel
16.5% Pedro Passos Coelho
10.3% Luís Montenegro
  8.8% Rui Rio
  7.8% Miguel Poiares Maduro
  0.3% Others
38.9% Undecided

Poll conducted between 13 and 20 August 2021. Polled 612 voters. MoE of 4.00%.

* Rio's days as PSD leader are basically numbered...

[Mike88]

2021 local election campaign update:

- Santana Lopes is again in the news, but for different reasons. His pick for the local Municipal Assembly in Figueira da Foz, Paulo Mariano, was accused of robbery in 2017. Allegedly, Mr Mariano is accused of stealing the furniture of a house his company purchase, as the furniture was the property of another company. Santana says he was unaware of the accusation and will "analyse" situation, but Paulo Mariano says the accusation is "BS". At the same time, Santana is still waiting on the Constitutional Court decision about his candidacy, but it's almost certain the Court will accept Santana's candidacy;

- In the PSD, things are tense. Polling is suggesting that results will be similar to 2017, meaning a national share around 30%, and the campaign isn't going well. The media is ignoring a bit Rio's tour across the country and he's been making some "gaffes". The latest was that the best moment for the PSD in order to defeat the PS will be... 2025, when, according to him, more than 70 PS mayors would be barred from office, thus creating an opportunity for the PSD. Pundits are stunned by this remark and are criticizing Rio;

- In Lisbon city, corruption is again in the news. The media is reporting that wiretaps, in the hands of the police, show that the Councillor Urban Development in Lisbon city, Ricardo Veludo, was caught promissing priority and help for a real estate developer to build in the city. Mr Veludo is the successor of Manuel Salgado, former Councillor who is also being investigated for corruption because of shady deals regarding urban development in the city; Mr Veludo is not running for reelection on September 26th;

- Courts are still deciding the fate of several candidacies across the country. In many cities and parishes across the country, the Constitutional Court is deciding the final fate of candidacies and, so far, some have been rejected: In Covilhã, Castelo Branco, 3 parish candidacies of CDS/PSD were rejected, in Viana do Castelo, a PS parish list could also be rejected and in other areas the same is happening;

- The debates between candidates have already started but so far the debates have been quite boring. The debates on the big cities, however, started yesterday with the Almada debate on RTP. It was a very tense debate between PS and PCP with accusations of "hypocrisy" and "demagogy" between both sides. SIC will broadcast this evening, 2 September, the Lisbon city debate and tomorrow, 3 September, the Porto city debate;

More updates when available.

[Mike88]

The Lisbon debate was held this evening, on SIC TV, and the main topics were housing and transport. In the beginning of the debate the "Russiagate" scandal was also brought up but it faded quickly in the discussion. Social media is highlighting two moments: the moment when the PAN candidate literally shut up the CHEGA candidate and the moment the Liberal (IL) candidate swear on live television.

The PAN vs CHEGA moment:
https://twitter.com/oTiagoDavid/status/1433527273156657155

Manuela Gonzaga (PAN) - "I consider politics a worthy activity and it's a good sign we are all here in plural, discussing..."
Nuno Graciano (CHEGA) - "It's a great sign..."
Manuela Gonzaga (PAN) - "DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!! It's a good sign we are all here talking..."

The Liberal's (IL) "swear" moment:
https://twitter.com/pedrotomas1975/status/1433542640147046402

Bruno Horta Soares (IL) - "...modernize this monster that is here beside us, so I would take my last minute to make an appeal to vote. We had a sh***y year and a half, we had the worst year of our lives...

[Mike88]

Paulo Rangel, PSD MEP and possible candidate for the 2022 PSD leadership race, talks openly, for the first time, about being gay:

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1434151873498558465

Rangel speaks publicly about homosexuality: "It's no problem, it's something I've never hidden"

Paulo Rangel, PSD MEP since 2009 and possible contender for the 2022 PSD leadership race, gave an interview to SIC TV where he, for the first time, talked about his sexual orientation. He said that it was never a secret, even though he says his homosexuality is being used by some to attack him. Mr Rangel said he kept his sexuality off the public spotlight to protect his family, mainly his mother, who died in 2019, and the fear she had of him being exposed. Asked about his religion, Mr Rangel is practicing Catholic, he said that he never had any issue about being gay as "Jesus would never discriminate". he said. About the PSD leadership, he says it's still too early to talk about it and that he's focused on helping PSD candidates across the country. Mr Rangel was already a PSD leadership candidate in 2010, but was defeated by Pedro Passos Coelho in a 61% to 34% margin. A recent poll shows him leading the race to become the next PSD leader.

[MaxQue]

It seems the old election archive of the CNE finally stopped working (or it may have months ago). Wierd that their website still links to it.