The Central Committee of the PCP, meeting on October 14, 2025, analysed the results of the local elections, addressed various aspects of the national and international situation and the elections for President of the Republic. It also decided on lines of action for the intervention and strengthening of the Party.

I - Local elections

1. The Central Committee of the PCP salutes the Party's militants, the Ecologist Party “The Greens” activists and the thousands of independents who, side by side with the candidates, built the CDU's campaign of clarification and mobilisation. This campaign will serve as a unifying factor for future action and struggle. It reaffirms to all those who have transformed their support and recognition for the CDU's distinctive project and track record of work, honesty and competence into votes, its long-standing commitment to honour its word and intervene in each local government in defence of the workers and people, their rights and aspirations.

2. Achieved under very demanding conditions, the result confirms the CDU as an important force in Local Government.

The CDU's result represents a drop in its electoral expression, both in terms of votes and seats, and in the number of municipalities where it is the majority party. This result does not portray the recognised work and intervention of its elected representatives in local government, and will have a negative impact on the conditions for ensuring an administration in accordance with the interests of the population.

The electoral result obtained – 6.62% and around 365,000 votes, third force in terms of number of Municipal Council presidencies, 97 Parish Council presidencies, with a total of 1,500 directly elected representatives – cannot be detached from the fact that it was achieved in a particularly demanding context. An election campaign that faced a number of adverse factors that were countered, and partly minimised, by the mobilisation and commitment of thousands of activists and candidates, and by the recognition of the work, honesty and competence in the exercise of the CDU's mandates.

A result that, while generally negative, reveals elements of resistance – with a majority in 12 municipalities (Aljustrel, Arraiolos, Avis, Barrancos, Cuba, Montemor-o-Novo, Mora, Palmela, Seixal, Sesimbra, Silves and Sines), four of which are new majorities (Aljustrel, Montemor-o-Novo, Mora and Sines), thus disproving forecasts about the CDU's inevitable defeat and confirming the real possibilities of advancing, regaining and winning new local councils.

Elements of resistance expressed in the significant result obtained in the city of Lisbon, which reflects the value and recognition of the CDU as the force holding solutions and the necessary project, and which asserts itself in the face of blackmail guided solely to sum votes, to the detriment of any alternative project to that which, for 24 years, the PS and PSD have imposed on the city.

3. The results now obtained are inseparable from a political context that conditioned and overshadowed the characteristics and local nature of these elections. A political context in which the persistent anti-communist campaign, based sometimes on distortion and sometimes on silencing, the spread of prejudice and the dissemination of reactionary ideas – which have been vividly expressed over the last four years and particularly in three legislative elections – have weighed negatively on the Party's influence and limited the free decision to vote CDU.

Regardless of the outcome in terms of achieving the overall objectives and in each of the 308 electoral battles, what the results show is that, even in these circumstances, the value of the CDU's work, the recognition of the actions of its elected representatives and the trust they inspire were translated into an undeniable electoral expression, particularly in municipalities where the CDU was the most voted force, when compared to last May's elections.

The campaign was an expression of the Party's affirmation as a force of project, but also of work, solutions and achievement. It was yet another moment of convergence of thousands of men and women who, without party affiliation or even with other options, recognise in the unitary and popular dimension of the CDU their space for collective achievement and civic and democratic participation.

4. The results achieved by the PSD (including in coalitions with the CDS and IL), benefiting from the instrumentalization of the State apparatus, translated into, in particular, an increase in the number of municipal and parish councils. In relation to the PS, there was a drop in the number of majorities. The CDS maintained its positions. Chega, having progressed from an almost non-existent base, and despite the promotion it received, fell significantly short of the objectives it proclaimed following the transposition of the results of last May's legislative elections.

5. The people can continue to count on the CDU, with its zeal and dedication in defence of the interests of the people and to promote local living conditions. In the new term of office, the population can count on CDU elected officials to honour their commitments, with recognised competence in implementing a distinctive local government project marked by participation and proximity, planning and affirmation of the public interest, valuing workers and associations, defending public services and spaces, promoting environmental values and democratising access to culture and sport.

A mandate in which the struggle to defend democratic Local Government, achieved in April and enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, emerges with an importance that is all the more decisive as plans to undermine it intensify: whether those that would result from a change in the electoral system long sought by the right and the PS in order to impose municipal executives based on models of absolute power, thereby eliminating the pluralistic, collegial and participatory nature of local government; or those that arise from the continuation of a process of transferring responsibilities under the guise of decentralisation, which undermines their autonomy, limits their ability to respond adequately to the needs of the population and jeopardises the universality of the right of access to social functions of the State such as healthcare, education or social protection.

II – Internacional situation

1. The escalation of confrontation and aggression promoted by imperialism, inseparable from the structural crisis of capitalism and the difficulties and contradictions faced by the major capitalist powers, represents the most serious threat to the peoples of the world.

The US, accompanied by the other G7 powers, is using all kinds of pressure and blackmail to impose its dominance and prevent countries that assert their sovereignty and rights from pursuing options for development and international cooperation.

Particularly serious is the escalation of warmongering by the US and its allies in NATO and the European Union, they exacerbate war propaganda, resorting to all kinds of manoeuvres and stirring up false external threats to sustain the dizzying increase in arms expenditure and their efforts to prolong the war in Ukraine, undermining any possibility of dialogue that could pave the way for a political solution to the conflict and for security and peace in Europe.

A warmongering escalation that diverts billions of euros to the military-industrial complex – mainly from the US – and is accompanied by attacks on labour and social rights, democratic freedoms and rights, and the promotion of anti-democratic, reactionary and fascist concepts, forces and projects.

Warning of NATO's intentions of confrontation and war, which pose the threat of a major conflict, the Central Committee of the PCP calls for the development of the struggle for Peace and disarmament, for the dissolution of NATO and the rejection of the militarisation of the EU, and for the establishment of a collective security system.

2. Reaffirming its condemnation of the genocide of the Palestinian people carried out by Israel, with the support and complicity of the US and the NATO and EU powers, the Central Committee of the PCP considers that the understanding now reached should constitute a step towards ensuring a permanent ceasefire, unconditional access to humanitarian aid, the total withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the Gaza Strip and an end to their attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the reconstruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Given the need to ensure that Israel does not violate the terms of this understanding – as it has done in all previous agreements – the Central Committee of the PCP warns against manoeuvres and pressures which, in disregard of the rights and sovereignty of the Palestinian people, seek to undermine or even continue to prevent the existence of the State of Palestine, with the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return of Palestinian refugees, as determined by United Nations resolutions, the implementation of which cannot continue to be delayed, distorted or subverted. It is up to the Palestinian people to decide sovereignly their own path, free from external and neocolonial tutelage.

It is necessary to ensure that Israel ends its aggression against Lebanon and Syria and withdraws from the territories it illegally occupies in these countries, as well as ceasing its threats against Iran and Yemen.

The Central Committee of the PCP stresses that the Portuguese government's belated recognition of the State of Palestine must be accompanied by an end to its complicity with Israel's policy of occupation and aggression – an example of which is the use of the Lajes Base by the US to supply weapons to Israel – the whitewashing of the crimes of the Israeli regime and the demand for the immediate establishment of the State of Palestine as determined by UN resolutions.

Saluting the courageous resistance of the Palestinian people and the broad international movement of solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Israel's genocidal policy of occupation and colonisation, the Central Committee of the PCP calls for continued solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle for the materialisation of their national rights.

3. The Central Committee of the PCP condemns the actions of interference and aggression by US imperialism against various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and warns of the danger they pose to the sovereignty and rights of peoples, to peace and security in the region.

Condemning the provocations and warmongering threats by the US against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – which are not unrelated to the awarding of the long-discredited Nobel Peace Prize to a figure from the extreme right-wing coup faction who advocates foreign intervention against the Venezuelan people – the Central Committee of the PCP expresses its solidarity with Bolivarian Venezuela and the struggle of the Venezuelan people in defence of the sovereignty and independence of their homeland, in the face of the US's intention to seize its vast natural resources.

The Central Committee of the PCP calls for an end to US interference and threats against Latin American and Caribbean States, and reiterates its demand for an end to the criminal and illegal blockade imposed on Cuba, as well as the coercive measures imposed on Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Brazil and other countries in the region.

4. The Central Committee of the PCP calls for the continuation and expansion of the struggle for peace and solidarity with the peoples who resist imperialist interference and aggression, particularly the Palestinian people and other peoples in the Middle East.

It is through the development of the resistance and struggle of peoples in defence of their rights and sovereignty, including the strengthening of ties of solidarity and cooperation within a broad anti-imperialist front, that it will be possible to halt the attempts of imperialism and pave the way for a new international order of peace and social progress.

The international situation lays bare the nature of capitalism and imperialist action and the topicality and necessity of the communist ideal and project as a perspective for a fairer society and world.

III – National situation

1. In a political and institutional context favourable to the intensification of right-wing policies and the implementation of the agenda of economic groups and multinationals, the PSD/CDS government is intensifying its policy of increasing exploitation and injustice, attacking the rights of the workers and people, submitting to imperialism and jeopardising national sovereignty. This policy, which has been adopted by the government, is supported by Chega and IL, and made viable by the PS.

Despite attempts to appear distant and feign opposition, reality shows that the PSD/CDS government's right-wing policy can only be implemented with the convergence, either jointly or separately, of Chega and the PS. The apparent distances and disagreements that mark the discourse of these forces on a daily basis do not conceal their responsibility for enabling government's policies, which serve capital and go against the interests of the workers and people.

2. Neither government propaganda nor demagoguery can erase the profound weaknesses, injustices, constraints and dependencies that mark national life.

The contrast between low wages and pensions and the profits accumulated year after year by big capital is confirmed, a situation worsened by successive increases in the prices of essential goods. The deterioration of public services continues in healthcare, education and Social Security. The crisis in access to housing persists with the significant rise in house prices and rents. The incomes of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, as well as small farmers, are crushed by the dominant role of monopoly capital. The territory, infrastructure and public facilities are faced with a lack of investment, as was seen once again with the scale of the forest fires that hit the country this summer, or even in the tragedy involving the Glória funicular in Lisbon. The priorities and resources associated with the Country's development are being replaced by submission to the impositions of the EU and the neoliberal and militaristic policy that is currently underway.

3. With undeniable class content, a global offensive is underway that aims to abolish rights and increase exploitation. Of particular note is the Labour Package presented by the government in conjunction with employers' confederations, which aims, among other objectives, to facilitate dismissals by allowing unfair dismissals, perpetuating low wages, the generalisation of precariousness, the deregulation of working hours, the increase in unpaid work, the weakening of maternity and paternity rights, and the confrontation with collective rights such as collective bargaining, freedom of trade union action and the right to strike. The changes to labour legislation currently underway, following successive changes over the years, constitute a declaration of war on workers' rights, which must be rejected and withdrawn, rather than positions that ultimately justify their acceptance.

4. Other measures also stand out, such as: the policy of favouring private economic groups, diverting resources from the National Health Service to the business of illness, and from public schools to private education groups; the deepening of fiscal injustice with the direct transfer, the use of corporate income tax, with billions of euros of public resources fattening the profits of capital; the promotion, through taxation and other means, of real estate speculation, precarious rental contracts, and profits for banks and real estate funds; the handing over of public assets to capital through privatisations, such as TAP, the sale of State assets and buildings, the so-called sub-concession of CP rail services – in reality, its dismantling – the intention to establish new PPPs or extend existing ones (healthcare, roads, railways); the destruction of State services, structures and capacities under the guise of so-called state reform and the false modernisation of Public Administration; the promotion of illegal work, human trafficking and the exploitation of immigrant workers, as witnessed in the new Aliens Act; the intention to increase tuition fees in the coming academic year, heightening an elitist policy, in a context of a sharp cut in the number of applicants to Higher Education; the weakening of Social Security and the assault on its resources, in a process that articulates the intentions of the government and big business with the EU's strategy of the so-called Savings and Investments Union.

5. The proposed State Budget for 2026 is the budgetary materialisation of this policy. It is a Budget of low wages and pensions, of investment restraint and attacks on public services, of fiscal injustice and funding of big capital profits. A budget that exacerbates injustices and inequalities and replaces the response to problems with submission to the interests of economic groups and multinationals, and to the impositions of the Euro and the EU. The current charade, seeking to present this proposal as if it were a technical document, is nothing more than a manoeuvre to ensure its approval and the deepening of right-wing policy. The commitment of Chega and IL to this course is obvious. Equally obvious is the PS's intention to make the Budget viable, and the policy of exploitation, injustice and regression that it enshrines. The PCP will fight this policy and reject the Budget that supports it, affirming the alternative policy that the country needs.

6. Knowing that the current policy produces injustice, inequality, dissatisfaction and revolt, big capital, while taking advantage of the current political and institutional context, does everything it can to promote reactionary forces, namely Chega and IL. It plays on the erosion of the alternation between the PS and the PSD, which has always served it well, and on the large-scale dissemination of lies, demagogy, fascist manipulation, discrimination and anti-communism to promote division, hinder the raising of the social and political awareness of the popular masses, delay the struggle for an alternative and try to impose a regression.

The answer to the Country's problems will not be found in the recurring blackmail that pushes the workers and people towards the logic of the “lesser evil”, which always aggravates the country's problems and paves the way for reactionary drift. The Country's situation requires clarity, courage and initiative. Clarity in combating right-wing policies, whoever is behind it. Courage in confronting the interests of big capital, reactionary forces and the impositions of the EU. And initiative to carry out intense political intervention, to boost and expand the mass struggle, to strengthen mass organisations, to promote the convergence of democrats and patriots around the defeat of this government, the defence and application of the rights enshrined in the Constitution, and a new course for the country that ensures a patriotic and left-wing policy at the service of the workers and people.

IV - Initiative and strengthening of the Party

1. The Central Committee of the PCP stresses the intervention of the organisations and militants of the Party and the JCP, and of many democrats and patriots with whom they have developed their activity, namely in stimulating the struggle and in denouncing and mobilising against the Labour Package, in the mass action that constituted the campaign for the local elections, as well as in the preparation and holding of the 49th. edition of the Avante! Festival. The Party has assumed its responsibilities in combating the regression that the Government and capital want to impose on the Country, opening paths of resistance, curbing resignation and conformism, and pointing to an alternative course for the Country, with a confident and transformative perspective.

2. The national situation and the lives of the workers and people denounce a policy that is sinking the country and demand mass action and struggle to face and defeat the objectives of increased exploitation, attacks on public services, and the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution.

The Central Committee of the PCP stresses the importance of the struggles waged in workplaces, companies and on the streets, including the teachers' demonstration on October 4, and culminating in the national day of action against the Labour Package, called by the CGTP-IN, with large demonstrations in Lisbon and Porto on September 20.

In view of the situation and the onslaught against rights and the declaration of war that the Labour Package represents, the workers' struggle is decisive. A struggle against employer action, for higher wages and rights, for the rejection of the Labour Package and the demand for its withdrawal, for the repeal of the grievous provisions of labour legislation. The “General action, in companies and on the streets, against the Labour Package”, the petition addressed to the Prime Minister and the National March against the Labour Package on November 8, decided by the CGTP-IN, assume a prominent role in the ongoing struggle. Workers' struggles are growing in various sectors and regions, notably the nurses' strike on October 17 and the Public Administration strike called by the Common Front of Trade Unions for October 24.

Of particular note are the struggles of the population, of users of healthcare services in defence and strengthening of the National Health Service, for the right to housing, as well as those of farmers and students.

Also noteworthy is the intense action and struggle for Peace and solidarity with the Palestinian people, which has resulted in dozens of actions over several months throughout the Country and is set to continue with the demonstration and concert for peace to be held on October 18 in Lisbon, and in the development of the ongoing solidarity campaign, which includes the national demonstration on November 29 in Lisbon and Porto.

The struggle of the workers and masses regarding their problems, aspirations and claims, its intensification, development and convergence, is the decisive factor in defending rights and improving living conditions, in confronting and defeating right-wing policies that serve big capital, and in paving the way for a new course in national life.

3. In the current political and institutional context, the elections for President of the Republic are particularly important in terms of the future president's position on the Constitution of the Republic and the values of April, or on the agenda of social and democratic regression that is being promoted.

The candidacy of António Filipe for President of the Republic has been widely welcomed and supported in a wide range of areas, confirming its distinctive and irreplaceable character, which is even more evident when compared to the other candidates.

The candidacy of António Filipe is deeply identified with the people, leading a permanent and consistent campaign in favour of the rights and interests of workers and populations, the materialisation of fair popular aspirations, the denunciation and fight against inequalities and injustices, and does not collude with the interests of big capital.

The candidacy that upholds the values of April and the unwavering commitment to defend, comply with, and enforce the Constitution of the Republic, with a firm commitment to the implementation of the democratic project, rights, and development that it entails.

The candidacy that unambiguously affirms Portugal, national sovereignty and independence, unwaveringly upholds the interests of the Country and rejects its subordination and dependence, which strives for peace, collective security, and cooperation among peoples.

A candidacy that will affirm how he sees and defends the exercise of the functions of the President of the Republic, that will mobilise the workers and people for this electoral battle, that will contribute to electing a President of the Republic who will assume and defend democratic criteria and values, respects rights, freedoms, and guarantees, identifies with the interests of the workers and people, and is committed to the duty of complying with and enforcing the Constitution..

The Central Committee of the PCP reaffirms that this is the time for all those who are concerned about the direction the country is taking, the choices made by the ruling classes, and growing injustices, for all those who defend the liberating and emancipatory project of April enshrined in the Constitution, to act for a Portugal with a future, to converge and give strength to António Filipe's candidacy for President of the Republic.

4. The Central Committee points the following as priorities for the Party's work: the integrated implementation of political initiatives, mass struggles, action with other democrats and patriots, the elections for President of the Republic, the struggle for peace and internationalist solidarity, and the strengthening of the Party. It highlights the following: the holding of meetings of the leadership bodies and plenary sessions of militants to analyse the situation, take the initiative, and plan the Party's general intervention, which includes the holding of rallies and public sessions, namely the rallies already scheduled for October 17, 18, and 24 in the districts of Setúbal, Porto, and Lisbon.

The national campaign under the slogan “Another course for the country. Reject the labour package, exploitation, and injustice,” encouraging organisations to act among the workers and masses, with contact, awareness-raising, and agitation activities to be carried out until early December. An action that, with the central objective of combating the Labour Package, will also contribute to denouncing the government's broader action of dismantling public services, privatisations, weakening State resources, benefits for economic groups, fiscal injustice, and accumulation of profits, including in the context of the State Budget, pointing to an alternative course for the country.

The need to take the initiative at various levels, namely in the Assembly of the Republic and the European Parliament, with denunciation, proposals, and connection to the concrete problems of the people and the Country.

The importance of the struggle for peace and solidarity with peoples, with particular emphasis on solidarity with Palestine.

The holding of the 13th. Congress of the JCP, on November 15 and 16, which will take place under the slogan ‘The new world is in our hands. Organise. Unite. Fight.’, constituting a great undertaking for the youth, a major moment in the life of the revolutionary organisation of Portuguese youth, in itself a milestone in the struggle of the youth, as well as an affirmation of the topicality of the communist ideal today.

The celebrations of the anniversary of the October Revolution, the 112th. anniversary of Álvaro Cunhal, on November 10, which includes the session to be held in Braga, as well as the initiatives surrounding the 500th. anniversary of Camões, namely the commemorative concert to be held on November 21 in Coimbra, and the conference to be held in Lisbon on November 29.

The preparation of the 50th. edition of the Avante! Festival to be held on September 4, 5 and 6, 2026, in the steps of the success of the 2025 Festival, which should be integrated into the Party's work from now on, namely with the advance sale of the EP entry ticket and other aspects, contributing to the success of this great event in national life.

The importance of working with other democrats and patriots, whether in the context of the elections for President of the Republic or in the Party's daily activities, particularly in combating reactionary concepts and projects. The approach of the 50th. anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic is an opportunity to confront such projects, as well as to broaden collective awareness and mass mobilisation, promoting unity for the implementation of rights and the defence of its programmatic basis.

5. The Central Committee of the PCP considers it essential to move ahead with the strengthening of the Party, adopting immediate measures and implementing the key guidelines defined by the XXII Congress.

Bearing in mind the general movement to strengthen leadership and structuring work in conjunction with giving responsibilities to cadres, as decided by the Congress, urgent measures are required, namely: the assessment of needs and the response to leadership requirements with the available means, adjusted leadership and structuring solutions and the maximum use of the availability of cadres. Giving responsibilities to cadres, which is part of the defined objective of having 1,000 new cadres with responsibilities, with attention to their political and ideological preparation and training, is a priority task for strengthening the Party.

In the current situation, with the development of the struggle for claims and the fight against the Labour Package, greater attention must be paid to the Party's intervention and organisation among workers, in companies and workplaces. The revitalisation of existing cells and sectors, the assessment of priority companies and workplaces, the functioning of Party bodies with cadres from the Unitary Trade Union Movement, the creation of new cells and other measures to ensure the development of the struggle and political intervention are central aspects.

The recruitment of new militants and their integration, following up on contacts with those who have distinguished themselves in mass struggles, in the organisation of the Avante! Festival and in local elections, as well as a rapid response to those who have expressed a desire to join the PCP, is work that is of real significance in strengthening the Party.

In the follow up of the wide mass work carried out during the election campaign and the deepening of knowledge of the reality, it is important to strengthen the Party's local intervention.

Assessing experiences in relation to the Party's propaganda and press work and adopting the corresponding measures, as well as ensuring the Party's financial independence by assessing the financial situation of each organisation and working to increase revenue, particularly from membership dues, are essential issues for the Party's intervention and strengthening.

★★★

Developments in the national and international situation place great demands on the Party. Demands of resistance, accumulation of forces, initiative, affirmation and progress. With confidence in the workers and the people, with courage, firmness and determination, it is imperative to continue the struggle, in the collective construction of a patriotic and left-wing political alternative, for an advanced democracy with the values of April in the future of Portugal, for socialism and communism.