The succession of Jerónimo de Sousa by Paulo Raimundo in the leadership of the PCP, given the history of the party in these processes, continues to give rise to unprecedented episodes, at least after April 25.
First, there were Jerónimo’s own revelations, which broke the party’s absolute secrecy about what goes on inside the Central Committee, when he admitted that the choice of Paulo Raimundo there had caused “some surprise”. Then, no less remarkable, was the fact that the silent leader admitted, “because the accuracy of the numbers in this matter is important”, that the solution did not receive unanimous support, but only a “broad convergence”.
Bernardino Soares, Joao Oliveira or Joao Ferreira. “Everyone fulfilled the conditions to assume the responsibilities of Secretary-General.”
This Tuesday, new unprecedented fact. One of the key figures in the PCP union, Arménio Carlos, leader of the CGTP from 2012 to 2020, went public in an interview with Observador radio and said that Raimundo’s choice was “a surprise” not only “for the public opinion” but as well as for “most militants”, since “the perspectives on other” members of the party, such as, as he acknowledged, Bernardino Soares, João Oliveira or João Ferreira (“everyone met the conditions to assume the responsibilities of Secretary-General”).
“The obvious cannot be denied: the PCP’s initial stance of not tackling the invasion of Ukraine immediately sparked widespread protest.”
Arménio Carlos – who was part of the PCP Central Committee from 1988 to 2020 – did not hesitate in the interview to demand that his party, now led by Paulo Raimundo, make a “qualitative leap” to “overcome the problems” that “pass ” so much “of the electoral decline [do partido]” as well as his “original stance” regarding the war in Ukraine, “which did not sit well with public opinion”. widespread dispute” and this later “caused difficulties”. “The PCP’s initial position should have been: “The PCP condemns the invasion of Ukraine, but this does not happen by accident, it is the result of a policy developed since 2014, which has reached a level that is increasingly concerned about the pressure being put on the Russian-speaking community in Donetsk,” he said.
“I think he’s a good comrade, but this is like everything else in life: he has to have his space, he has to stand up for himself and he needs the support of the party’s militants.”
In the interview, Arménio weakened Raimundo’s resume in union work by saying that the future leader of the party was not “watching the central movement of the union movement”, but only “watching some sector of activity”.
Now, he concluded, the future leader faces two “big challenges”: on the one hand, “to show the militants and electorate of the PCP and the CDU” that “he can continue to count on a far-reaching, decisive and dynamic PCP”; on the other to ensure that “this message is spread to the general population”. “I think he’s a good comrade, but this is like everything else in life: he has to have his space, he has to stand up for himself and he needs the support of the party’s militants.”
This Tuesday, Jerónimo de Sousa resigned as a substitute and was replaced by Duarte Alves. Jerónimo will deliver the leaders’ farewell speech on Saturday morning and open the work of the National Conference that the party has convened for the weekend. At 7 pm, the Central Committee meets to confirm the choice of Paulo Raimundo.
Source: DN
