The PAN spokesperson, Inês de Sousa Real, assured this Saturday, December 20, the legality of the Congress regulations, and criticized the resigning coordinator of the Jurisdiction Council, accusing him of resigning “out of convenience to join a new list”.
Speaking to journalists at the entrance to the X National Congress of the PAN, in Coimbra, the party’s spokesperson, Inês de Sousa Real, reacted to the dismissal of the coordinator of the National Jurisdiction Council, Jorge Silva, against alleged illegalities in the regulations of the main meeting and the absence of the opposition list, led by Carolina Pia.
Regarding Jorge Silva’s arguments, Sousa Real guaranteed that Congress was convened “within all statutory norms and rules” and emphasized that the Jurisdiction is a collegial body, which approved the regulations by majority, criticizing those who “resign for mere convenience and then join a new list”.
“The party respected all the statutory norms in force, we could not be calling delegates to the Congress from structures that do not exist or for which they did not even present lists”, he said, in response to Jorge Silva’s argument that the Congress regulations “promote the exclusion and illegal election of members”, by not allowing the participation of districts considered inactive.
The PAN leader also regretted the absence of the opposition list, led by Carolina Pia, considering the opposition’s protest “a profound immaturity and lack of respect for all delegates” who left “their families behind to be able to be present” at this Congress.
Sousa Real reiterated that “the arguments that the opposition has regrettably used are arguments that have no support from a statutory or regulatory point of view”, adding that the objective of today’s main meeting is to discuss the future of the PAN with “responsibility, unity and seriousness”.
“That’s why I can’t even associate myself with the criticisms made,” he stated.
The PAN meets today at the 10th Congress, in Coimbra, to elect the leadership, with the expectation that, after months of internal tension, the spokesperson, Inês de Sousa Real, will renew her mandate, given the absence, in protest, of the opposition.
The PAN will define the political orientation and strategy for the coming years, after having seen the number of votes decrease in recent legislative elections and after months of internal turmoil, with the resignation of several leaders and the departure of dozens of activists. The last dismissal was announced this Friday, with the departure of the party’s Jurisdiction coordinator, considering that there are illegalities in the Congress regulations.
Two leadership candidates present themselves at this major meeting: Inês de Sousa Real, party spokesperson since June 2021 and the only PAN deputy, who is running for a third term again, and Carolina Pia, former district leader in Viseu, who resigned from the National Political Commission (CPN) in May due to disagreements with the current leadership.
List A, led by Carolina Pia, although it remains one of the options on the ballot, will not appear in Congress as it considers that the “democratic guarantees” for carrying out the work are not assured, criticizing the impossibility of electing delegates from districts considered inactive, a rule that is said to prevent access to voting for members in areas that are not under the control of the management.