Pedro Nuno Santos Declares Alexandra Leitão as Key Figure for PS in Lisbon Election

Pedro Nuno Santos explained on Tuesday night why he chose parliamentary leader Alexandra Leitão as the PS candidate for the Lisbon city council: "The PS had to make its biggest bet. After me, Alexandra Leitão is the most important figure in the PS." He slightly corrected himself by adding, "After me and the party president." However, the position held by Carlos César is not executive – for the first time, Pedro Nuno officially recognizes Alexandra as his number two, which she already was in practice.

The choice of the parliamentary leader, according to the party's secretary-general, is "the sign of the strong bet we are making in Lisbon, where Carlos Moedas' inability to solve the problems of Lisbon residents is becoming increasingly clear."

Pedro Nuno highlighted Alexandra Leitão's profile, her "capacity for realization and execution," her "determination," and her "strength to solve problems." A doer, indeed – a term Pedro Nuno Santos likes to apply to himself.

When journalists asked if Alexandra Leitão was chosen because she was the socialist leader most capable of uniting the left – in a coalition where the PS intends to gather Bloco de Esquerda, Livre, PAN, and persuade the PCP to abandon its idea of running alone for the Lisbon city council – Pedro Nuno Santos replied that this was not the criterion for her selection.

"The choice of Alexandra Leitão is not related to that. The profile of realization and execution she has, yes. I am convinced that Alexandra Leitão is the right person for the PS to govern the Lisbon city council again."

Later, when asked if Mariana Vieira da Silva – who was also a possibility for Lisbon – would be a candidate for the Sintra city council, Pedro Nuno Santos dodged the question but praised Vieira da Silva as "one of the most important figures in the PS, with great political capacity and quality."

However, he returned to praising Alexandra Leitão, which ended up being a relative diminishment of Mariana Vieira da Silva: "I understand that we needed to make a very strong bet. The strength that the parliamentary leader has in the PS and in national politics makes clear our commitment to the city of Lisbon to take this electoral battle seriously and to win it."