Leader of the PSD bench in the Porto Municipal Assembly resigns | Harbor

The president of the PSD bench in the Porto Municipal Assembly, Miguel Corte Real, presented his resignation from his position this Wednesday night, at a meeting of the social-democratic bench that he himself called expressly to announce his decision, which was already expected in the party.

From what PÚBLICO learned, the PSD’s national advisor, Manuel Monteiro, who has been a municipal deputy for more than three decades, has already informed the party that he will be running for leadership of the municipal bench. For his part, the president of the Porto municipal political commission of the PSD, Alberto Machado, has already called elections for next Tuesday night, so that the social democratic deputies can choose the new leader of the bench.

Before the deputies, Corte Real justified his dismissal with the argument that he had already been leading the municipal group for two and a half years when the regulations of the PSD municipal bench stipulate only two years. But there are doubts about whether this is really the underlying reason that dictated his departure.

Miguel Corte Real, who PÚBLICO unsuccessfully contacted to confront him with the reasons that led him to leave the presidency of the bench, It is one of the signatories of the statement against the choice of the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, to join the PSD lists for the European elections.

“Obviously, faced with the current rumors, increasingly certain, that the current mayor of Porto will be the head of the list, nominated by the PSD, for the next European elections, we want to make it publicly clear that we detach ourselves from this option, as we consider it to be a betrayal of the people of Porto, the activists, supporters and mayors elected by the PSD, which we have no doubt will leave deep marks on the trust that the people of Porto have in the PSD”, says the statement, made public on April 21st, which Corte Real signed .

“In the last local elections of 2021, the PSD presented a renewed candidacy with an ambitious project for the city of Porto. In these elections in which Rui Moreira made a commitment to fulfill his mandate until the end, the PSD grew electorally, with more people from Porto voting for us, implying that the PSD had its vote strengthened and Rui Moreira lost its majority” , highlights the statement, signed by 20 people, including Vladimiro Feliz, who led the PSD list for the Porto Chamber in the last municipal elections.

The social-democratic municipal deputy, who was very involved in the recent elections for the presidency of FC Porto, supporting the Pinto da Costa’s re-candidacyhad been showing signs of some distance from the party, taking positions that were poorly received by the PSD and also by Rui Moreira’s independent movement.

In December last year, Vladimiro Feliz, PSD councilor in the Porto City Council, also announced that he would suspend his mandate for a period of one year due to incompatibilities with his professional life. During the campaign for the local elections, in 2021, the Social Democrat committed to taking stock of his activity if he were to perform functions. Two years later, following this review and after assuming the role of councilor without a role, Feliz decided to step aside and suspend his mandate.

Vladimiro Feliz and Miguel Corte Real were in negotiations with Rui Moreira’s independent movement, with a view to reaching a stability and governance agreement with the PSD that would allow the mayor of Porto to govern the city, as he had not had a majority.