In a secret ballot with 48 votes in favor and two abstentions, sociologist Paulo Pedroso, ex-militant, ex-leader and ex-minister of the PS, was elected president of the new citizens’ association this morning “Public matter”, An thinktank on the left that brings together personalities close to or militants from the PS, Bloco de Esquerda, PCP and Livre. The election took place on Saturday morning during a meeting in Liceu Camões, in Lisbon, with fifty founders.
Headed by Paulo Pedroso, the executive leadership of “Causa Pública” will also consist of Alexandra Leitão (former PS minister, current deputy), Ana Drago (former deputy of the Bloco de Esquerda), José Reis (professor of economics at the University of Coimbra) and businessman Rogério Moreira (former PCP activist and founder of Bloco de Esquerda).
The founding meeting of the “Causa Pública” elected the economist Ricardo Paes Mamede as president of the “Strategic Council” and the lawyer (Livre activist) Ricardo Sá Fernandes as head of the board of the General Assembly.
One of the deliberations of today’s meeting was to confirm that the first public act of the “Public Cause” will be a discussion forum, on October 28, at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon.
The organization says that the “the country’s economic model and new development policies”, “the challenges posed by climate change and the urgency of the energy transition and the transformation of production models”, the “de quality of democracy and the political risks of the rise of the far right” and “the configuration of the labor market and its central role”. social policy”.
“We understand that the left, with all its different forces and visions, has a responsibility to build a better society, by devising and implementing progressive structural reforms.”
O Manifesto of the organization says that “‘Causa Pública’ is an association of citizens committed to building new roads for Portugal, through a public and participatory debate on the country’s development model and governance options, from different perspectives of Portuguese left”.
“Parties’ excessive focus on their internal dynamics often limits the production of thoughts and open and pluralistic participation. More progressive thinking is needed to discuss governance from the space of citizenship. It is in this space that we intend to make a difference, through forms of cooperation between citizens, and between them and the organized forces in politics and civil society. In doing so, we will contribute to the emergence of new formulas of political cooperation for the common good and new democratic arrangements, which need to be urgently reflected upon, tested, developed and accelerated,” it also said.
And it clearly assumes a vision of the left – a left that is institutionally reflected in the ‘thing’: ‘We understand that the left, in its various strengths and visions, has a responsibility to build a better society, by devising and implementing progressive structural reforms. reforms. More is being asked of the debates on the left or of the orientation of left policy to date. There is a lack of viable and progressive programs that can compete for the transformations required for the country’s development project in the coming decade.”
Yesterday, speaking to Lusa, Paulo Pedroso said that the purpose of the “Public Cause” is to “discuss and produce ideas that will remain in the public space” and not to “interfere in the game of political chess.” “We were born to influence public debate by launching and spreading ideas for the future,” he emphasized.
Source: DN
