The bill is complete: when Catarina Martins leaves the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) this Sunday, it will be 3100 days since she took on the coordination, for the first time, on December 1, 2014. On November 11, In 2012 he joined the bicephalic coordination alongside João Semedo. The election for the party’s national board – the highest blocking body – will take place this Saturday and Sunday at the Casal Vistoso pavilion in Lisbon. In addition to the function of coordinator, the leader of the blockade will also leave the States (but will remain in the direction of BE).
The departure of Catarina Martins from Bloc coordination comes just over a year after the last Legislatures, in which the party lost the majority of its parliamentary group, ranging from 19 (elected in 2019) to five deputies. On election night in January 2022, Catarina Martins clearly assumed the outcome represented “a bad result”. And at that moment he did not close the door when he went out: “The bloc will make its decisions and the board will be here to fulfill what it intends to do.”
“One of the big challenges will be the recovery of the young voices and with new ideas to attract more voters. It is necessary to restore the strength it has brought to Portuguese politics.” – Paula do Espirito Santo
Two global political motions will be discussed at this weekend’s convention: A, by Mariana Mortágua; and E, by Pedro Soares, a former blockade deputy in the XI (2009-2011) and XIII legislatures (2015-2019), and a critic of the current BE coordination. The election is done by 654 deputies, with the vast majority (530 or 81%) being elected by the A motion; 89 (14%) for movement E; and the remaining 35 (5%) were elected by local party platforms.
Two years ago, at the last convention, Catarina Martins’ motion won by a large majority (54 mandates against 17 for second place).
Heard by DN, Viriato Soromenho-Marques, Professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon (FLUL), sees the departure of Catarina Martins from coordination as the door to new ideas (“The party will strive to renew itself in difficult times”) and also as a consequence of the result of the January 2022 elections”The moment a party is one of the fundamental causes of early elections, which reduce the fraction to less than half, it means that there is a perception error. Exactly the opposite of what was thought happened: the government was strengthened and had an absolute majority. That could have been the exact time Catarina Martins would leave. Right now I would say [o principal motivo] it will be fatigue. I think it will be the one that imposes the renewal. It’s an act of maturity.”
“From the moment that a party is one of the fundamental causes of early elections, which has reduced the parliamentary group to less than half, it means that there is a perception error.” -Viriato Soromenho Marques
In conversation with DN, Paula do Espírito Santo, political scientist and professor at the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences in Lisbon (ISCSP), summarizes Catarina Martins’ leadership in two ways: as co-coordinator (with João Semedo), “it was a leadership that went through different strategies. In a first phase with an image of internal democracy and later for a more inclusive party participationSolo, it was “a more starring leadership, but always with several other key figures around him. Given the election result, it may not have been the best strategy. This should be directly attributed to the leadership and decisions made, which may have had some electoral bowing”.
And the future?
Looking at the party’s internal dynamics, Mariana Mortágua, deputy and first signer of Motion A (“One force, many fights”), is seen as the leading candidate to succeed Catarina Martins.
The 36-year-old deputy, who is already a member of the bloc’s national board, is seen as a commitment to continuity. But not alone. “He’s a figure who sits in Parliament, he has some continuity, who accompanied Catarina Martins. On the other hand, when there are changes in leadership, in politics, somehow there is an expectation of policy renewal at the internal level of the parties. Even with this continuity – which isn’t bad – it could be helpful to have this Bloc refresh among voters”, analyzes Paula do Espírito Santo.
And the future of Catarina Martins herself? “She is clearly a motivated citizen, not one of those young people who come out of the apparatus. In the future, it could even be seen as a good presidential candidate.”, reflects Viriato Soromenho-Marques.
The Europeans and the challenges of the new coordination
With European elections coming up soon (they will take place on June 9, 2024), the near future of the Bloco de Esquerda could continue there, as a barometer of the new leadership, says Paula do Espírito Santo. “They will be a good barometer of leadership and even what has been done since the January Legislative Assembly,” he said.
For the college professor, there is another dimension to consider in the “short-term future”: “A literal rejuvenation of the party is necessary,” he says. “This means that it is necessary to show that the Bloco de Esquerda has not stagnated, not least because it was once one of the youngest parties in terms of militancy”he emphasizes and concludes: “This will be one of the great challenges, this recovery of the young voice and with new ideas to attract more voters. It is necessary to regain the strength it brought to Portuguese politics.”
On the other hand, Viriato Soromenho-Marques points to two challenges. First, he says, “one has to impose itself politically”, with “a clearer agenda”. “It is not well known what the Bloc’s position is in relation to Europe. It has MEPs, but what does BE think of Europe?”, he wonders. On the other hand, the “green agenda remains outside parliament”, and this could be one of the areas of action. Moreover, the professor believes, the Bloco de Esquerda could even play a fundamental role “in the reinvention of the trade union movement”, at a time of “more fierce struggle against threats”. “An active militant politics can be very important in this very slippery and eroded situation, the bloc should try to stand on the sidelines to reinvent this movement,” he concludes.
The proposals of the two motions
An analysis of the two strategic motions (A, led by Mariana Mortágua; E, led by Pedro Soares) in the race for the Bloc’s national table reveals what separates them. The line of action, the future of the country, the electoral challenges, the war in Ukraine and the extreme right are some of the topics covered.
Party line of action
Movement A: He wants the BE to be “the strongest opposition to the government” and continue to seek “political convergence on the left”, with the “ambition to build a broad field of the popular left that changes the balance of power in favor of those that work”. It also calls for greater support for social rights movements.
Motion E: It requires the redefinition of the political orientation with “tactical and strategic autonomy”. He criticizes the previous leadership’s speech as it was characterized “by superficiality, managed according to the possibility of parliamentary agreements with implications for the government”.
The future of the country
Movement A: It proposes a “structural reform of industrial relations”. As far as housing is concerned, it suggests an inventory of vacant houses at the municipal level. It wants more transparency with “separation of politics and business”, and a “quick and accessible justice system”, and says it is committed to climate justice and animal welfare.
Motion E: Defends “eco-socialism as a horizon of society” and the central role of the “struggle to eradicate poverty and against impoverishment”, the appreciation of wages and pensions and better working conditions, giving priority, for example, to collective recruitment and 35 hours of work per week.
Upcoming electoral challenges
Movement A: It points out that in the “elections to the legislative assemblies of the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, the Bloc is the solidary autonomous alternative to the coalition of interests of all right-wingers and to the immobility of the PS”. Commitment to deepen training of party activists and coordination of work at the local level.
Motion E: The elections in Madeira “will have the specific importance of seeking parliamentary representation” lost in 2019 “and being able to mark the cycle, namely in the fight against the far right”. In municipal elections, he points out that local party organizations must be given “the capacity to continue with candidacies, candidates and election manifestos”.
war in Ukraine
Movement A: He criticizes Putin’s regime, an “oligarchic dictatorship” that embarked on a “belligerent adventure”. “The Kremlin has helped strengthen NATO and the North American strategy of confrontation with China and subjugation of Europe and has projected Turkey’s authoritarian government as a mediator between imperialisms,” he criticizes.
Motion E: He proposes that the BE always take a stand “against war, a product of the crisis of global capitalism itself, in which people always lose” and calls for “Putin from Ukraine and NATO from Europe”. This motion states that the BE “cannot be linked to a decision that condones submission to the US and NATO”.
Extremely right
Movement A: He criticizes the PSD, stating that “the traditional right is reconciling with radicalization” and feeding a “taboo about new alliances with Chega”, following the agreement reached in the Azores. He accuses the PS of having “found in Chega’s growth the electoral formula to try to save its absolute majority”.
Motion E: It affirms the need for an “uncompromising fight” against the “rise of far-right, populist, xenophobic, racist and sexist forces”.
With Lusa
Source: DN
