Francisco Assis

For the Angolan footballer, see Francisco Assis (footballer).

Francisco Assis
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the European Parliament
for Portugal
Incumbent
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
ConstituencyPorto
In office
15 October 2009 – 30 June 2014
ConstituencyGuarda (2009–2011)
Porto (2011–2014)
In office
27 October 1995 – 19 July 2004
ConstituencyPorto
Mayor of Amarante
In office
17 December 1989 – 26 October 1995
Preceded byJoaquim Teixeira
Succeeded byArmindo Abreu
Personal details
Born
Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda

(1965-01-08) 8 January 1965 (age 60)
Amarante, Portugal
Political partySocialist Party (since 1985)
Other political
affiliations		Party of European Socialists
SpouseVanda Teixeira Pinto
Alma materUniversity of Porto
OccupationTeacher • Politician

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]

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

Ballot: 17 December 1989
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS Francisco Assis 12,767 45.6 4 +2
PSD – 9,290 33.2 2 –2
CDS – 3,987 14.3 1 ±0
CDU – 1,027 3.7 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 902 3.2 – –
Turnout 27,973 67.13 7 ±0
Source: Autárquicas 1989[11]

Amarante City Council election, 1993

Ballot: 12 December 1993
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS Francisco Assis 18,732 58.8 5 +1
PSD João Mota 10,638 33.4 2 ±0
CDS–PP – 1,296 4.1 0 –1
CDU – 483 1.5 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 707 2.2 – –
Turnout 31,856 71.52 7 ±0
Source: Autárquicas 1989[12]

Porto City Council election, 2005

Ballot: 9 October 2005
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PSD/CDS–PP Rui Rio 63,443 46.2 7 +1
PS Francisco Assis 49,653 36.1 5 –1
CDU Rui Sá 12,311 9.0 1 ±0
BE João Teixeira Lopes 5,797 4.2 0 ±0
Other parties 1,756 1.3 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 4,420 3.2 – –
Turnout 137,380 58.43 13 ±0
Source: Autárquicas 2005[13][14]

PS leadership election, 2011

Main article: 2011 Portuguese Socialist Party leadership election
Ballot: 22 and 23 July 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

Main article: 2014 European Parliament election in Portugal
Ballot: 25 May 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]

References

  1. ^ "Biografia (Francisco de Assis)". parlamento.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  2. ^ Jerónimo, Mariana (9 June 2024). "Quem são os 21 eurodeputados que Portugal vai enviar para o Parlamento Europeu?" [Who are the 21 MEPs that Portugal is sending to the European Parliament?]. SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  3. ^ Nicholas Hirst (29 April 2014). "European issues v domestic austerity in Portugal" (Online). politico.eu. Brussels: European Voice. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  4. ^ Peter Wise (11 October 2015). "Portugal's socialists explore leftist alliance" (Online). ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  5. ^ Patricia Kowsmann, Matt Moffett (24 November 2015). "Socialist Leader António Costa Is Named as Portugal's Prime Minister" (Online). wsj.com. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. ^ João Lima (6 November 2015). "Portugal's Socialists 'Hope' to Sign Accords for Government" (Online). Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  7. ^ Peter Wise (1 December 2015). "Portugal: backlash against austerity unites divided left" (Online). ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  8. ^ Francisco Assis (27 October 2017). "A novíssima "geringonça"" (Online). publico.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Público. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. ^ Revista de Imprensa [Press Review] (27 October 2017). "Assis: "Podemos estar prestes a assistir ao surgimento de uma nova geringonça. Marcelo ocupará um lugar absolutamente central"". expresso.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Expresso. Archived from the original (Online) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  10. ^ Dave Keating (24 February 2014). "More Parliament candidates announced" (Online). politico.eu. Brussels: European Voice. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Distrito do Porto : Autárquicas Resultados 1989 : Dossier : Grupo Marktes". Marktest. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Autárquicas 1993" (PDF). Diário da República. 3 March 1994. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Resultados AL 2005" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Auto Sorteio AL 2005" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  15. ^ "António José Seguro eleito líder do PS". Jornal Económico. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Comissão Nacional de Eleições Mapa Oficial n.º 1/2014" (PDF). Diário da República. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2024.