After the Party President and acting Secretary General Carlos César declaring that the election will be held either in the last week of June or the first of July, Mariana Vieira da Silva and Fernando Medina, both highly speculated names of the Costista wing of the party to run for Secretary General, as well as Duarte Cordeiro and Alexandra Leitão, two of the closest alies of Pedro Nuno Santos and members of the left-wing faction of the party, declined to run in name of party unity and because of the short time necessary to prepare a candidacy. Because of this José Luís Carneiro, a high-profile member of the Segurista faction and Centrist wing of the party, and runner-up of the previous internal election, was expected to be the sole candidate.[3]
This election, however, was not free from controversy with several prominent party members and leaders criticizing the speed with which Carneiro announced his candidacy, arguing that the party needed more time to reflect on the results, focus on the local elections with César leading the party and only then have the internal elections. One of these high profile members was Mariana Vieira da Silva, considered to be the right-hand woman of António Costa and a member of Pedro Nuno Santos' national secretariat.[4]Miguel Prata Roque[pt], a television commentator and runner-up in the 2025 internal election for the Lisbon Urban Area Federation also considered a candidacy for the party leadership, rejecting that there is a broad consensus regarding Carneiro's candidacy,[5] but ultimately decided not to run.[6] After the deadline to submit candidacies was passed, Carneiro was the only candidate to submit a candidacy, making him Secretary-General elect.[7] On election day, Carneiro was confirmed as party leader winning more than 95% of the votes.[8]
Because a party congress, to confirm the newly elected leader and elect his leadership team, isn't yet scheduled, questions have arisen about the validity of this vote. According to the party's statutes, holding a party congress following a leadership vote is mandatory, meaning that, without a party congress to confirm his election, Carneiro's leadership could be labeled as interim, thus forcing a new leadership ballot at short notice.[34] The party's parliamentary leader, Eurico Brilhante Dias, later confirmed that the election of Carneiro is only to complete the term left vacant by former party leader Pedro Nuno Santos, which is due to expire in early 2026.[35]
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