Former PSD prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho has scotched rumours of a political comeback as many social democrats have openly showed their desire for his return. With municipal elections coming in the autumn – and the party desperate to recoup some of its crushing defeats of four years ago – Passos Coelho’s name has been touted for weeks as a more vibrant figurehead to lead the party ‘out of the wilderness’. The former PM was due to give a Zoom talk this week, entitled “Rethinking Portugal”, for the INSEAD school of business management – but now he has cancelled, saying he doesn’t want to fuel speculation.
