Catarina Martins ends presidential campaign backed by all leading figures of the Left Bloc

Sunday, 18 January 2026RSS
Catarina Martins ends presidential campaign backed by all leading figures of the Left Bloc

Catarina Martins has ended her presidential bid, receiving support from all the main figures of the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda).

Context & Explainers

Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda)
  • Leader: Currently vacant (Mariana Mortágua resigned October 2025)
  • Ideology: Democratic socialism, eco-socialism, feminism
  • Founded: 1999

The Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda, BE) is a Portuguese left-wing party founded in 1999 as a coalition of far-left movements (UDP, PSR, and Política XXI). It positioned itself as a modern, progressive alternative to the traditional left, attracting younger urban voters with campaigns on social justice, LGBTQ+ rights, drug policy reform, housing, and labor protections.

The party's peak influence came during the 2015–2019 Geringonça ("contraption") government, when it supported António Costa's PS minority administration alongside the PCP. This arrangement reversed austerity measures and presided over economic recovery, giving BE significant policy leverage.

Since then, the party has suffered a sharp electoral decline — from 19 seats in 2015 to just 1 seat in the May 2025 election, its worst result in history. Leader Mariana Mortágua resigned in October 2025 after failing to reverse the slide. The party is currently undergoing a leadership contest and internal debate about its future direction, squeezed between the PS on one side and Livre on the other.

View full article on dn.pt

RSS source