The Mandates Verification Committee has examined the documentation concerning the election of delegates to the 20th PCP Congress.
We have 1154 delegates present. After having examined the minutes of the Elective Assemblies’ meetings and the credentials of all delegates present, the Mandates Verification Committee confirms their mandates, as they are in accordance with the Rules for Party debate and election of delegates.
The Mandates Verification Committee examined the 43 cases of replacement of delegates by their alternates (elected by the same Assembly). The election of these alternates was verified and found to conform to rule 18 of the Rules for debate and election of delegates.
The Congress preparation (including the holding of electoral plenary meetings) implied the involvement members, both collectively and with their individual contributions. The current political, economic and cultural situation – with its huge workload to inform and mobilise workers and communities to struggle for their rights – has seen our Party play a major role and deploy major engagement in this task. And it was this same Party, its members and organisations, that collectively prepared the 20th Congress in a democratic, participatory and fraternal mode, with the involvement and dedication of all, asserting inner-party democracy and contributing to make the outcome of our 20th Congress express the will of our great Party collective.
512 Electoral Assemblies were held, having elected 946 delegates and 920 alternates.
The Electoral Assemblies' minutes note that 864 (91.3%) of the elected delegates were nominated by their respective Organisations' leaderships, 57 were nominated by the Assemblies themselves, and 25 were nominated by merged proposals.
The following rules were fully followed:
- A proportion of 1 delegate for every 60 members, according to rule 14.
- Rule 16, which allows for the election of additional delegates, up to a maximum of 10% of the overall nominations of each Regional Organisation.
- Rule 17 allows for the possibility of grouping organisations with less than 60 Party members.
In keeping with the Party By-laws and 20th Congress delegate election rules, the following are ex-officio delegates: Central Committee members, JCP [communist youth] National leadership, Central Control Committee members, as well as comrades that the Centrac Committee decides to appoint as delegates by virtue of their tasks in the Party or their responsibilities in mass movements (as provided for in rule 22). There are seven such delegates, fully in keeping with the allowed maximum of 1%. Ex-officio delegates constitute 18% of all delegates in attendance.
Our Congress's social background indicates a large majority of industrial and office workers, working in industry and services, which fully conforms to the PCP's class nature as the party of the working class and of all working people.
The age breakdown is as follows:
- 111 delegates are 30 years old or less;
- 453 delegates are between ages 31 and 50;
- 385 delegates are between ages 51 e 64;
- 205 delegates are older than 64.
The average age is 50. The youngest delegate is 17 years old, while the oldest is 89.
The delegates include 140 comrades who have joined the Party since the last Congress.
Among the delegates present, 33.3% are women and 66.7% are men.
The Mandates Verification Committee highlights the wide range of delegates' placement at the various levels of the Party's organisational structure. Out of all delegates, 66 are members of both the Party and JCP [communist youth], and 155 are full-time party workers.
Confirming our Party's links to working people and local communities is the fact that 62.13% of delegates hold leadership positions in mass movements and organisations. In particular, 21.7% are members of workers' councils, trade-union officials or shop stewards.
It should also be noted that 39.5% of delegates hold elected office in local governments or national institutions.
Lastly, the Mandates Verification Committee, considers that the delegates election processes is in keeping with the democratic inner-party work and with the relevant rules. The necessary conditions are thus fulfilled to ensure the legitimacy of the 20th PCP Congress's decisions.
The Mandates Verification Committee extends greetings to all delegates and guests in attendance, the builders of this great Congress of ours, that will surely contribute to strengthen our Party, its links with the masses, with the working class and all working people, its ability to raise awareness, mobilise and organise in our people's struggle for a patriotic and left-wing alternative, for an advanced democracy – with the April [1974 revolution's] values in Portugal's future – and for Socialism.