His name is Fernando Medina, and he takes over the reins of the nation’s capital today (April 6) at 6pm as outgoing mayor António Costa prepares for the autumn fight to wrestle power from the PSD/CDS-PP coalition.
Months now from the legislative elections, the Socialist Party is not apparently bothered by any stigma of association.
An economist by profession, Medina was an assessor during the catastrophic government led by António Guterres and then went on to hold key positions under José Sócrates – the former Portuguese prime minister (in)famous for having led Portugal into the hands of the troika and now incarcerated in Évora jail suspected of multiple crimes of corruption.
Medina became the vice-president of Lisbon Câmara in 2013 and thus was the first choice as Costa sets out to lead the PS election campaign.
A special ceremony marking Medina’s new role will take place in Lisbon’s Salão Nobre at Paços do Concelho.
Photo: Fernando Medina (right) takes over from outgoing mayor António Costa (left)
Photo by: ANTÓNIO COTRIM/LUSA
