Liberal deputy Rui Rocha announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Initiative yesterday, half an hour after João Cotrim Figueiredo announced that he would not run for another term, and he has already started inviting people on his list, DN learned. Since his campaign manager has already been elected, deputy Bernardo Blanco.
And it was still on Sunday, still under the surprise of Liberal announcements, that Cotrim Figueiredo announced on television that his candidate is Rui Rocha. Which reveals that they were attuned to this new phase in the life of the party, which will have its elective convention at the end of the year.
In a bench of eight deputies – led by Cotrim Figueiredo, he went from one deputy to eight in the last legislatures – Rui Rocha already has the public support of four members of the parliamentary faction, in addition to the still leader of the party and Bernardo Blanco, de Joana Cordeiro, deputy of Setúbal, and Patrícia Gilvaz, elected from Porto.
Parliament President Rodrigo Saraiva remains neutral for the time being, not least because there is still the possibility that another MEP could run for the leadership of IL, in the case of Carla Castro, elected by Lisbon and who is encouraged on social networks move forward. . “For the time being” the deputy does not want to talk about it.
IL sources say it is the critical and more conservative sectors of the party that are trying to have an alternative candidate for Rui Rocha, who is also a member of the IL Executive Committee. “But with four colleagues already on the bench on the side of Rui Rocha, it is starting to be difficult for Carla Castro to finish in a leadership candidacy, but we have to wait and see,” said the same source.
Out of the race – “he really doesn’t want it” we are assured – will be Carlos Guimarães Pinto, the second president of the IL (the first was Miguel Jesus Ferreira) and who is deputy in this legislature.
On Instagram, Bernardo Blanco summarized the reasons for supporting Rui Rocha in the succession of Cotrim Figueiredo and which are expressed by other sectors of that political strength: “Rui is a person of integrity, of combative work and with the ability to popularize liberalism through country”. They also underline the fact that they “have a strong presence on social networks”.
Who is Rui Rocha?
“I see in him all the qualities I think are needed at this stage of the celebration,” said João Cotrim Figueiredo on Sunday evening at SIC Notícias. He also emphasized the deputy’s qualities such as “intelligence”, “political sense” and “ability to communicate”, in addition to a “very high speed of responding to cases”.
When asked about Rui Rocha’s lack of public exposure, sine qua non to lead a party, Cotrim Figueiredo admitted the degree of risk of his departure at a time when the party grew.
“We did not run away from this risk and the need to make courageous decisions, now we want this decision to be seen as a way to decouple the quality of ideas that are in the public space from the popularity of the protagonists who they give a voice,” he said.
Rui Rocha is still unmatched in the race for leadership and will have to fight for “popularity” as a rookie deputy for the Liberal Bank. Born in Luanda at the age of 52 but living in Braga since 1978, he is married and the father of two children. He graduated in law and was also a lawyer and visiting assistant in higher education.
But Rui Rocha developed his private sector career as a Human Resources manager in various fields such as banking, manufacturing, civil construction, automotive, logistics or retail. He currently sits in the Assembly of the Republic and is an effective member of the Agriculture and Fisheries Commission and the Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Commission.
Popularize
“Popular liberalism” and electoral calendars seem to hold the key to deciphering João Cotrim Figueiredo’s somewhat unexpected departure, though within Il they recall the quiet leader’s assurances that he would not remain in office for more than four years, which would happen. in 2013, as he was elected in December 2019.
IL sources assure DN that the explanation given by Cotrim Figueiredo does not even have a second reading, that it is merely an “analysis of what is best for the future of the party”.
“I thought this was the moment, the only time I was able to solve both problems, because by shortening the mandate of the executive committee, I solved the problem of synchronizing the mandates of internal organs of organs and, in anticipation of the no-resit, I finally give the new leadership that after these December elections will have more time to prepare, get noticed, gain notoriety and thus be able to take liberal ideas as far as possible. let it go,” said Cotrim Figueiredo in SIC Notícias.
And if the election calendars and the need to make room for the confirmation of another leadership are reason, it is no less the case of substance, which was also adopted by the chairman of the Liberal Initiative. Cotrim Figueiredo, who will remain as deputy, assumed that “he is not the ideal person to make certain kinds of political approaches to the opposition more combative, popular and inclusive at the national level.” I recognize my limitations and therefore I think there are those in the party with the most capacity to do that.”
“Popularizing liberalism” seems to be a job for the next liberal leader, “especially to grow the party in suburban and rural areas,” an IL source tells DN.
António Costa took advantage of the idea of IL’s “popularization” yesterday in his favor. He accused the party of “competing with Chega in the style of unrest and democratic bad manners as it intervenes in public debate”. And he concluded in an ironic tone: “I realize that Dr. João Cotrim Figueiredo was not comfortable in this style of wrestling in the middle of the mud.”
the presidents
Carlos Guimares Pinto
Born in Paramos, Espinho, Carlos Guimarães Pinto was the second chairman of the Liberal Initiative, a post he took up in October 2018 and left in December 2019, when the party managed to elect a deputy for the first time. around the circle of Lisbon. In the case of João Cotrim Figueiredo, who would take charge ever since. It was not the first but the second, in the January 2022 legislation, that Guimarães Pinto was elected deputy, in a bank that grew to eight terms. PhD in Economics, he was a strategy consultant in telecommunications and digital for companies in more than 20 countries. He became known for his chronicles in economic newspapers, namely on the ECO website and on the blog O Insurgente. In 2021, together with Adolfo Mesquita Nunes (former CDS) and Carlos Moreira da Silva, he created the Thinktank MaisLiberdade, which is dedicated to sharing information and data on liberal policies around the world.
Joao Cotrim Figueiredo
The current leader of IL, born in 1961, studied at the German school in Lisbon and graduated in economics in London School of Economics. João Cotrim Figueiredo was involved in the private sector for many years. From 2000 to 2006 he was director of Compal and simultaneously from 2003 to 2006 of Nutricafés. He was succeeded by Privado Holding, owner of BPP, where he became executive chairman after João Rendeiro left in 2009. for the position of Director General of TVI from 2010 to 2011. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turismo de Portugal between 2013 and 2016 and in 2015 he was elected Vice-President of European Travel Commission. In 2019, he is elected deputy and takes up the mandate in the Assembly of the Republic, only to be elected third president of IL shortly afterwards. Under his command, the party grew in number and elected after managing to elect eight deputies in the parliamentary elections in January this year. What made IL the 4th political power in Portugal.
Source: DN
