Former deputy and current councilor of the Chamber of Barcelos Carlos Eduardo Reis was elected president of the Braga district of the PSD this Saturday, defeating MEP Paulo Cunha, who was looking for another term at the head of the only social democratic district structure in which there was no single list.
Although Carlos Eduardo Reis said that it was not a ticket against the national leadership of Luís Montenegro, his victory is being seen among social democrats as a warning to navigation. And a clear defeat for the secretary general and parliamentary leader of the PSD, Hugo Soares, who was one of Paulo Cunha’s biggest supporters.
For the victory of Carlos Eduardo Reis, who received 2826 votes from social democratic activists, while Paulo Cunha had 2600, the municipalities of Barcelos were decisive, where he won by a large margin (1302-390), and Vila Verde (516-151), but also a good result in Vila Nova de Famalicão. Despite having been president of that municipality before moving to the European Parliament, his opponent did not achieve an equivalent advantage, receiving 945 votes, against 602 for the Barcelona native.
With Barcelos, Vila Nova de Famalicão and Vila Verde having more than two thirds of social democratic activists with up-to-date quotas in the district of Braga, it was of no use to Paulo Cunha being the candidate with the most votes in the majority of municipalities.. Including Braga, where he had the new president of the municipality, João Rodrigues, having defeated Reis by 237-84, or Guimarães, where his advantage (290-41) was greater.
Close to Rui Rio, Carlos Eduardo Reis survived the revolution in the parliamentary group during the 2024 legislative elections, as the Barcelos municipality imposed its presence on the lists – unlike what happened with André Coelho Lima in Guimarães -, but involvement in the process Tutti Fruttiin which he is being accused of active corruption, malfeasance and influence peddling, led to him losing the political trust of the leadership of the parliamentary group.
Carlos Eduardo Reis had to suspend his mandate as deputy and, after the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, following the disapproval of the motion of confidence in the Governmentin response to opposition initiatives linked to the investigation of Spinumviva, a company created by Luís Montenegro, was excluded from the lists of candidates for the 2025 legislative elections. However, he returned to the PSD list in the Chamber of Barcelos, and is currently the councilor responsible for Urban Planning and Management, Inspection and Administrative Offenses, Administrative Modernization and Innovation, and Youth.
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