Majority of parties want local elections to be held on October 12

PSD, Chega, PCP and Livre proposed this Thursday to the Government that the next local elections be held on October 12, while PS wants them to take place on September 28 and BE on October 5.

After meeting with the Government in Parliament to set the date for the next local elections, the parliamentary leader of the PSD, Hugo Soares, said that the social democrats support elections on October 12, in order to allow for an “enlightening campaign among voters” and give time to formalize the necessary “administrative and bureaucratic processes”.

The PS, through Pedro Delgado Alves, defended, at this meeting, that the elections should take place on September 28, following the tradition that local elections “tend to be held at the end of September”. The socialist said there was no reason why the elections should not be held at the end of September, adding that, in this way, “the executives can be installed during the month of October, as is usual”.

Chega's parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, explained that he started by proposing to the executive that the local elections be held on the 5th or 12th of October, but that the overlap of the first date with the Republic Day holiday makes the 12th preferable, so as not to affect the holiday ceremonies.

The PCP, which was represented by MPs Paula Santos and Alfredo Maia, defended, in the first meeting this morning with the Government, that the next local elections should take place on October 12, to “allow greater participation by citizens” in this electoral act.

Isabel Mendes Lopes, parliamentary leader of Livre, said that the party proposed to the executive that the elections be held on October 12, as it considered it necessary to give time to parties and citizens' movements to organize their candidacies and present lists.

The PAN, announced the sole deputy Inês de Sousa Real, is also in favor of holding the elections on October 12th as it considers that it is the date that “best corresponds to the needs of having a participatory electoral act” and without incidents.

The BE, which did not meet with the Government due to lack of availability, informed the Executive, in writing, that it prefers local elections to be held on October 5, an official source from the party told Lusa.

The Government, represented by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim, and the Secretary of State for Local Administration and Spatial Planning, Silvério Regalado, is meeting with the parliamentary groups in the Assembly of the Republic about choosing the date for the local elections.

According to local electoral law, these elections will be held between 22 September and 14 October on a Sunday, so in practice there are only three possible dates: 28 September, 5 October (holiday commemorating the Establishment of the Republic) and 12 October.