Ex-PAN leader voices critique against Inês Sousa Real
In an unprecedented move, Carolina Pia, former leader of Portugal's Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), has filed a disciplinary complaint against the party's spokesperson, Inês Sousa Real. The complaint, sent to the National Political Commission (CNP) of PAN, alleges political persecution and harassment.
The dispute stems from the 2024 legislative elections, where Carolina Pia was the head of list for Viseu. According to her, Inês Sousa Real orchestrated making her the scapegoat for the result of the elections. Carolina Pia claims that the omission of support was deliberate and led to the failure to deliver the lists in the Viseu district.
Moreover, Carolina Pia accuses Inês Sousa Real and the campaign leadership of deliberately and consciously not filling out the necessary documentation to present the candidacy, causing it to fail. She also alleges that the Viseu district was excluded from the consultation processes for this year's municipal elections for political reasons.
The CNP, however, has rejected Carolina Pia's complaint without discussion and has opened a disciplinary process against her. This is in addition to another disciplinary process already underway for her failure to submit a candidacy for the Viseu constituency in the 2025 legislative elections.
The CNP's direction states that the allegations made by Carolina Pia correspond to "slanderous conduct" and are in "flagrant contradiction with documentary elements known to the CPN members who deliberated the institution of the disciplinary process".
Carolina Pia classifies the exclusion decision as discriminatory and "illegal in all aspects, from the statutory, to the constitutional, to international legislation". She has resigned from the party's national political commission due to disagreements with the leadership, becoming the fourth member of the governing bodies to do so since the elections on the 18th.
This internal dispute within PAN has not been widely reported in Portuguese media, with the majority of available information focusing on Mexican judicial elections, censorship in Mexico, and broader political context. For detailed information about this issue, one might want to consult PAN's official communications, Portuguese political news sources, or specialized investigative reports focused on party affairs.
- Carolina Pia, in her dispute with Inês Sousa Real and the Party's leadership, claims that the deliberate omission of support for her during the 2024 legislative elections, the failure to fill out necessary documentation for the candidate presentation, and the Viseu district's exclusion from consultation processes for this year's municipal elections, are not only against the party's policy-and-legislation but also go against general-news standards for fair representation.
- In the midst of a contentious internal environment within the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), Carolina Pia, now a former member of the party's National Political Commission, has accused the leadership of policy-and-legislation violations, such as deliberate exclusion of the Viseu district from consultation processes and slanderous conduct, allegations she believes have broader implications, reaching environmental legislation, constitutional rights, and international law.
