The Mandates Verification Committee (MVC), elected at the beginning of our Congress, has examined the documentation concerning the election of delegates to the 18th Congress.
Up to this time, we have 1461 delegates present at the Congress.
55 of the primary delegates were replaced by their alternates, who were elected by the same Assembly, and we have concluded that they all fulfilled the condition mentioned in article 18 of the Congress Rules.
1223 delegates are present, and the MVC confirms their mandates, since they conform to the norms set out in the Congress Debate Rules for the election of delegates. This conclusion was reached after having checked the electoral Assemblies' minutes and the registration forms of all delegates present.
The following norms have been fully met:
- the proportion of 1 delegate for every 50 Party members, as per article 14 of the Rules;
- the norm in article 16, that provides for the election of more delegates, up to a maximum of 10% of the Regional Organization's overall proposal, was fully met;
- no issues were detected in the grouping of organizations with less than 50 Party members, as per article 17 of the Rules.
We highlight and applaud the intensive preparatory work for our Congress, especially insofar as the Party has not suspended its relentless struggle against the PS government's right-wing policies.
The MVC received information about the holding of 590 electoral Assemblies, that elected 1223 primary delegates and 1163 alternates.
In accordance with Party Rules, there are 253 comrades in a position to be delegates by virtue of their positions: 174 are Central Committee members, 62 are members of the JCP (Portuguese Communist Youth) leadership, 7 are members of the Central Control Committee, and 13 others that the Central Committee considered should have delegate status by virtue of their tasks in the Party tasks or their responsibilities in mass movements, as per article 22 of the Rules.
Insofar as it was possible to ascertain, 970 primary delegates were elected upon proposal of the relevant Party bodies' leaderships (79.3%), while 203 were elected upon proposal by their Assemblies, and 50 were elected after the merging of proposals.
The social composition of delegates to the 18th Congress confirms a large majority of workers, from both industry and services, amounting to 58% of all delegates.
Our Congress's social composition fully confirms the PCP's class nature, as the party of the working class and of all working people.
The age breakdown is as follows:
Age Delegates
under 20
28
21-30
215
31-40
232
41-50
234
51-64
600
over 64
148
The average age is 47.8 years. The youngest delegate is 16, and the oldest is 93 years old.
It is important to mention that among the delegates, there are 228 comrades who joined the Party since the last Congress.
Of the delegates present, 26.7% are women and 73.3% are men.
The MVC notes the wide range of delegates' positions in the Party's organizational structure.
Among the delegates, 84 are members of both the Party and the JCP, and 197 are full-time Party workers.
Proof of our Party's strong links with the working people and with local communities, is the fact that 60.4% of delegates are organizers in mass organizations and movements, and of those, 20% are members of workers' committees, trade-union leaders or shop stewards.
It should also be noted that 36.3% of delegates hold public office in various local or central government bodies.
In conclusion, the MVC considers that the Congress delegate election process conforms to the Party's norms of democratic functioning, and complies with the Rules. This implies that all necessary conditions have been met to ensure the legitimacy of the 18th Congress's decisions.
The MVC extends greetings to all delegates and guests present, and hopes that our Congress proceedings can make a decisive contribution to strengthen our Party, the Party's links to the masses, to the working class and to all working people – and to organizing our people's struggle to build a progressive Portugal.