Angélique da Teresa: “There must be a return to irreverence”

Angélique da Teresa, who is leaving the IL Executive Committee, said in an interview with Observador that "if Mariana Leitão's candidacy was challenged, there would be other candidates" at the Convention taking place this Saturday. "There is unity here around the next leader," she added.

Even though she's leaving the party leadership, the MP affirms that the next Liberal leader's project "makes perfect sense." Angélique da Teresa reveals that her departure was a decision she made herself, noting that she herself is proof that there is "a spirit of succession" within the IL.

Regarding the party's political orientation, he says there's an acceptance that "irreverence must return." He asserts that Rui Rocha wanted the IL to be more than just "a tax party," and, in addition to bringing this discussion to the public, the Liberals "managed to impose state reform on the government." On this issue, the government "took the lead," he says, but what it proposes doesn't match what the IL proposes.

The outgoing leader also said that the liberals' approach to the AD, during the last election campaign, was, in fact, "to explain that Portugal would not be left without a Government, [because] the IL would assume its share of responsibility", if the elections had resulted in a parliamentary majority between the two parties.

Angélique da Teresa says that IL's agreement with Carlos Moedas is "what's needed to get Lisbon working." The Liberal MP argues that "Carlos Moedas needs IL's reformist spirit," as does the rest of the country, adding that the PSD has acknowledged the need for IL's "reverent and innovative image."

Regarding the possibility of the CDS gaining a better position on the list of candidates for the Lisbon City Council, the liberal says that the process was conducted by the Lisbon territorial core, but notes that "the IL is the fourth largest Portuguese party and carries a weight that the CDS doesn't have," even though it "respects the track record" of the Christian Democrats. "In Lisbon, it's Carlos Moedas who has to manage these issues," she adds.

Angélique da Teresa didn't elaborate on the possibility of replacing Mariana Leitão as leader of the Liberal caucus in Parliament, but she ruled out a scenario in which she would succeed the current party leader in that position. When asked about the announcement of a new IL presidential candidate, she said that "the party has excellent candidates" and that "a good candidate" wouldn't be weakened by being a second choice—after Mariana Leitão's withdrawal.