José Luís Carneiro Returns as PS Candidate for Braga: What This Means for Upcoming Elections

José Luís Carneiro Leads PS in Braga Again

José Luís Carneiro, former candidate for the leadership of the Socialist Party (PS), is set to return as the head of the PS list for the Braga electoral district in the upcoming early legislative elections. This announcement was made official by a party source on Wednesday, confirming that Carneiro had previously led this list in last year's elections.

In 2023, Carneiro lost the internal contest against Pedro Nuno Santos for the PS leadership but has now been selected by Santos as the number one candidate for Braga after the initial list was rejected. The PS/Braga political commission voted against the candidate list, with 38 votes against and 31 in favor, leaving the first two positions to be determined by the PS Secretary-General, Pedro Nuno Santos.

The rejected list included current deputy Pedro Sousa in third place, followed by deputy Irene Costa, Guimarães councilor Paulo Silva, and municipal deputy from Famalicão Jorge Costa. During this meeting, a unanimous recommendation was made for former MEP Isabel Estrada Carvalhais to be nominated as the head of the list for this district.

In the last legislative elections in 2024, the Braga list was led by José Luís Carneiro, who opposed the current PS leader during the leadership elections, followed by Palmira Maciel, who does not appear on the rejected list.

Tonight, the National Political Commission of the PS will meet to approve the candidate lists for all electoral circles at the PS headquarters in Lisbon. According to PS statutes, the Secretary-General, Pedro Nuno Santos, is responsible for appointing one-third of the total seats, while the remaining two-thirds fall under the jurisdiction of the federal political commissions of each electoral circle.