Portuguese politician
Cristina Rodrigues
Cristina Rodrigues in 2024
Assumed office 14 January 2024President Bernardo Pessanha Assumed office 26 March 2024Constituency Porto In office 25 October 2019 – 28 March 2022Constituency Setúbal
Born Maria Cristina Pacheco Rodrigues
(1985-06-14 ) 14 June 1985 (age 39) Political party Chega (2023–present)Other political affiliations PAN (2014–2020)Independent (2020–2023)Alma mater University of Lisbon Occupation Jurist • Politician
Maria Cristina Pacheco Rodrigues (born 14 June 1985) is a Portuguese politician and lawyer. She was a member of the Assembly of the Republic for Setúbal between 2019 and 2022 , representing People Animals Nature (PAN).[ 1] She was re-elected in 2024 as a member of Chega for the Porto constituency .
Biography
Rodrigues has worked in victim support and as a pro bono lawyer for domestic violence victims and for members of Intervenção e Resgate Animal [pt ] , an animal rights and rescue organisation .[ 2] [ 3] In July 2019, she was chosen as list leader for People Animals Nature in Setúbal District, ahead of the elections in October .[ 2] She and three other women from PAN were elected, joining party leader André Silva in the Assembly of the Republic .[ 4]
On 25 June 2020, Rodrigues quit PAN, due to objections to Silva's alleged authoritarianism, and sat as an independent . She became only the second independent at the time, along with Joacine Katar Moreira , whose membership of Livre had been rescinded. Her resignation came days after that of PAN's only Member of the European Parliament , Francisco Guerreiro .[ 5] Later that year, she abstained, so that the state budget would pass, saying: "I will let it happen, but I won't vote in favour of it".[ 6]
On 23 March 2022, Rodrigues was announced as a new member of the legal department of the right-wing populist party Chega .[ 7] In 2023 she joined the party.[ 8]
In January 2024, she was announced as candidate number three, on Chega's Porto list for the 2024 legislative elections , behind Rui Afonso and Diogo Pacheco de Amorim .[ 9] [ 10] She was elected.[ 11]
References
^ "Biografia" [Biography] (in Portuguese). Assembly of the Republic. Retrieved 11 March 2021 .
^ a b "Cristina Rodrigues encabeça lista do PAN por Setúbal" [Cristina Rodrigues heads PAN list for Setúbal]. Diario do Distrito (in Portuguese). 24 July 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2021 .
^ SAPO. "Proximidade com Ventura dura há meses. Cristina Rodrigues, ex-IRA, foi quem mais votou a favor de propostas do Chega" . Polígrafo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2024 .
^ Freire, Manuel Carlos (7 October 2019). "PAN: partido do deputado único é agora partido do homem único" [PAN: party with just one deputy is now party with just one man]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021 .
^ Claro, Luís (28 June 2020). "O partido que encolheu em nove dias" [The party that shrank in nine days]. Sol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 March 2021 .
^ "Deputada não-inscrita Cristina Rodrigues vai abster-se. OE nas mãos do PAN" [Independent deputy Cristina Rodrigues will abstain. State budget is in the hands of PAN]. Público (in Portuguese). 26 November 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2021 .
^ Rodrigues, Sofia (23 March 2022). "Ex-deputada do PAN Cristina Rodrigues passa a assessora parlamentar do Chega" [Ex-PAN deputy Cristina Rodrigues becomes parliamentary consultant for Chega]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 March 2022 .
^ "Ex-PAN Cristina Rodrigues já é militante do Chega (e é deputável)" . www.sabado.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 27 November 2023 .
^ Figueiredo, Inês André. "Ex-deputada do PAN Cristina Rodrigues é número três do Chega no Porto" . Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2024 .
^ "Cristina Rodrigues candidata pelo Chega, confirma Ventura" . www.sabado.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2024 .
^ Malhado, Alexandre R.; Galha, Lucília (10 March 2024). "Cristina Rodrigues eleita pelo Chega. "É uma vergonha", ouve-se na sede do PAN" [Cristina Rodrigues elected for Chega. "It's a shame", overheard at PAN headquarters]. Sábado (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 March 2024 .