Francisco Assis
Portuguese politician (born 1965)
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Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda (born 8 January 1965) is a Portuguese politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Socialist Party. He was part of the Party of European Socialists from 2004 to 2009, and again from 2014 until 2019. He is also a former mayor of Amarante, having been in office from 1989 to 1995, and member of the Assembly of Republic on two occasions, the first from 1995 to 2004 and the second from 2009 to 2014.[1]
Porto (2011–2014)
Francisco Assis | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of the European Parliament for Portugal | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2024 | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019 | |
| In office 20 July 2004 – 13 July 2009 | |
| Member of the Assembly of the Republic | |
| In office 26 March 2024 – 26 June 2024 | |
| Constituency | Porto |
| In office 15 October 2009 – 30 June 2014 | |
| Constituency | Guarda (2009–2011) Porto (2011–2014) |
| In office 27 October 1995 – 19 July 2004 | |
| Constituency | Porto |
| Mayor of Amarante | |
| In office 17 December 1989 – 26 October 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Joaquim Teixeira |
| Succeeded by | Armindo Abreu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda 8 January 1965 |
| Party | Socialist Party (since 1985) |
Other political affiliations | Party of European Socialists |
| Spouse | Vanda Teixeira Pinto |
| Education | University of Porto |
| Occupation | Teacher • Politician |
Assis was elected a Member of the European Parliament in the 2024 European election, and is expected to be sworn-in in the upcoming Tenth European Parliament.[2]
Political career
Role in national politics
Assis challenged incumbent António José Seguro for the party leadership in 2011.[3] When the right-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho lost its absolute majority in parliament as a result of the 2015 Portuguese legislative election, Assis condemned what he described as "left-wing fantasies" within his own Socialist Party, describing any attempt at an agreement with the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc as "absurd".[4] On 24 November 2015, Socialist leader António Costa was appointed as Prime Minister after forming a parliamentary alliance with three left-wing parties.[5] Assis publicly voiced his opposition to the new coalition agreement,[6][7] which he reaffirmed in the context of the 2017 Portuguese local elections and in the aftermath of the October 2017 Iberian wildfires.[8][9]
Member of the European Parliament (2014–2019)
Ahead of the 2014 European Parliament election in Portugal, the Socialist Party named Assis at the top of their list.[10] Following elections, he became a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. He was also the chairman of the parliament's delegation for relations with Mercosur. Assis has been a political commentator for television programmes on TV stations SIC Notícias and TVI 24 and a columnist for the newspaper Público.
Electoral history
Amarante City Council election, 1989
Amarante City Council election, 1993
Porto City Council election, 2005
PS leadership election, 2011
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| António José Seguro | 23,903 | 68.0 | |
| Francisco Assis | 11,257 | 32.0 | |
| Blank/Invalid ballots | 367 | – | |
| Turnout | 35,527 | ||
| Source: Diretas 2011[15] | |||
European Parliament election, 2014
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS | Francisco Assis | 1,034,249 | 31.5 | 8 | +1 | |
| PSD/CDS–PP | Paulo Rangel | 910,647 | 27.7 | 7 | –3 | |
| CDU | João Ferreira | 416,925 | 12.7 | 3 | +1 | |
| MPT | Marinho e Pinto | 234,788 | 7.2 | 2 | +2 | |
| BE | Marisa Matias | 149,764 | 4.6 | 1 | –2 | |
| Livre | Rui Tavares | 71,495 | 2.2 | 0 | new | |
| PAN | Orlando Figueiredo | 56,431 | 1.7 | 0 | new | |
| PCTP/MRPP | Leopoldo Mesquita | 54,708 | 1.7 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Other parties | 111,765 | 3.4 | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Blank/Invalid ballots | 243,681 | 7.4 | – | – | ||
| Turnout | 3,284,452 | 33.67 | 21 | –1 | ||
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[16] | ||||||