Rui Rio

Rui Fernando da Silva Rio, GCIH (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese politician[1] and former Mayor of Porto (Presidente da Câmara Municipal). On 13 January 2018, he was elected President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) with 54% of the votes, in which position he acts as the Leader of the Opposition.

Rui Rio

GCIH
President of the Social Democratic Party
Assumed office
18 February 2018
Preceded byPedro Passos Coelho
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
18 February 2018
Prime MinisterAntónio Costa
Preceded byPedro Passos Coelho
Mayor of Porto
In office
8 January 2002 – 22 October 2013
Preceded byNuno Carvalho
Succeeded byRui Moreira
Secretary–General of the Social Democratic Party
In office
29 March 1996 – 20 June 1997
Preceded byEduardo Azevedo Soares
Succeeded byCarlos Horta e Costa
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
Assumed office
25 October 2019
In office
4 November 1991 – 4 April 2002
ConstituencyPorto
Personal details
Born
Rui Fernando da Silva Rio

(1957-08-06) 6 August 1957
Porto, Portugal
Political partySocial Democratic
Spouse(s)Lídia Azevedo
ChildrenMarta
EducationColégio Alemão do Porto
Alma materUniversity of Porto

Rio studied at the Colégio Alemão do Porto (Porto's German School), and earned his degree in economics at the University of Porto,[2] where he was president of the Student Association, at the time the only Student Association that was not led by members of the Communist Party,[2] and a member of the Pedagogical Council.[3]

Professional career

As an economist, he began his professional life in the textile industry, having, after fulfilling his compulsory military service, also worked in the metalworking industry.[2]

In the mid-1980s, he began his career in the banking sector. As a member of Banco Comercial Português, he was responsible for setting up financing operations in the primary market, for listing on the stock exchanges, for studying and designing new financial products and for training human resources in the Capital Market area.

He was also chief financial officer of the CIN paint factory, with special responsibility for the company's relationship with the Capital Markets.

After having stopped working as an economist during his professional career in politics, in March 2014 he took over at Boyden - Executive Search[4] and Neves de Almeida - HR Consulting,[2] companies in the area of human resources management.

Prior to that, and since January 2014, he had resumed his activity at Millennium BCP, joining the Investment Committee of the Millennium Capitalization Fund, even though he is an independent and non-executive member.[5]

He is Vice-President of the General Assembly of the Order of Chartered Accountants.[6]

He was non-executive director of Metro do Porto, as Mayor of Porto from 2002 to 2010.

Political career

Rio began his political career as part of the Juventude Social-Democrata (JSD), the Social Democrats' youth organization. He was Vice President of its National Political Commission from 1982 to 1984. At the same time he was a member of the National Political Commission of the Social Democratic Party, under Pinto Balsemão and later Mota Pinto. He was also deputy to the Assembly of the Republic, elected for the district of Porto, between 1991 and 2001. He was, during this period, the party's spokesman on economic and financial questions. He was also Secretary General of the party during the presidency of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Between 1996 and 1998 he was Vice President of the Instituto Sá Carneiro and, between 2002 and 2005, Vice President of the Social Democratic Party. From 2003 to 2005 he was President of the Eixo Atlântico do Noroeste Peninsular.

Mayor of Porto, 2001–2013

In 2001 Rio was elected president of the City Hall of Porto, defeating Fernando Gomes in an upset. He had a troubled first term, marked by splits with the world of the football business in the city of Porto, and strong interventions in the social districts. He was re-elected by an absolute majority in 2005 and 2009. His term ended on 22 October 2013, when the new mayor Rui Moreira took office.

Leader of the PSD, 2018–present

In 2018, Rio won the race to become leader of the PSD after campaigning to hold the party on a centrist line.[7] On the leadership election held on 13 February 2018, Rio defeated his more conservative rival, former Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes, winning 54 percent of votes from PSD party members.

Ending the animosity that followed the 2015 legislative election and nudging the PSD closer to the center, Rio and Prime Minister António Costa signed an agreement in April 2018 which covered cooperation on a reform intended to give more powers to municipalities, as well as on a 12-year strategy to keep using European Union structural funds for development.[8] Under his leadership, the PSD also backed the Socialists in areas such as labor law reform and defense.[9]

Amid criticism at his leadership, Rio won a confidence motion by 75 to 50 votes in the party's National Council in early 2019, only after a 10-hour debate.[10] In January 2020, Rio fended off another leadership challenge on a promise to keep the leading opposition force on a centrist course. In the party's 2020 leadership election, he scored 53 percent in a runoff vote against the party's former parliamentary spokesman Luís Montenegro, who demanded a more aggressive opposition to António Costa's Socialist Party following the Social Democrats' worst result in over 30 years in the parliamentary elections the previous October.[11]

Political positions

Rio was a critic of austerity and has sought to distance himself from the tough remedies imposed by Passos Coelho in response to the eurozone economic crisis. On social issues, as a centrist, he is to the left of his party as a supporter of abortion rights, euthanasia and legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes.[7]

Freemasonry Critic

Following his party's internal elections, which he is disputing against Luís Montenegro and Miguel Pinto Luz, Rui Rio stated that Freemasonry "is everywhere" and trying to "condition Portuguese society" by giving this organization obscure and untransparent motivations.[12]

Rio's statements were a response to Paulo Mota Pinto, in which this jurist, professor and politician referred to the PSD president further clarification on the alleged "dark interests" who want to dominate the party following Rio's statements, in January 2019, regarding Montenegro's Freemansonry ties.[13]

Rio admitted to perceiving Paulo Mota Pinto's reference and replied: "When I am talking about secret, obscure, little transparent interests, I am referring clearly to Freemasonry". He further went on saying that he "senses" that the Freemasons "are everywhere and trying to condition many things," and that he has "no doubt about that". Rui Rio clarfied that if he denied such influences he would be a "hypocrite" and that he is the only one with enough courage to criticized the Freemasons influence.[14]

Honours

Electoral history

PSD leadership election, 2018
 
Ballot: 13 January 2018
Candidate Votes %
Rui Rio
22,728
54.2
Pedro Santana Lopes
19,244
45.8
Blank Ballots
447
1.1
Invalid Ballots
236
0.6
Turnout
42,655
60.34
Source: Official results

PSD leadership election, 2020
 
Ballot: 11 and 18 January 2020
Candidate 1st Round 2nd Round
Votes % Votes %
Rui Rio
15,460
49.3
17,025
53.1
Luís Montenegro
13,039
41.5
15,031
46.9
Miguel Pinto Luz
2,887
9.2
  
Blank Ballots
221
0.7
209
0.7
Invalid Ballots
236
0.5
132
0.4
Turnout
31,749
78.19
32,397
79.74
Source: Official results 1st round Official results 2nd round

See also

References
  1. Giannetti, Daniela; Benoit, Kenneth (3 December 2008). Intra-party politics and coalition governments. Taylor & Francis US. pp. 70–. ISBN 978-0-415-46225-9. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  2. "Rui Rio Breve Biografia" (PDF). Partido Social Democrata. October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  3. Infopédia. "Artigo de apoio Infopédia - Rui Rio". Infopédia - Dicionários Porto Editora (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  4. "Conferência: "Conhecer as pessoas, transformar a organização" Neves Al". Neves de Almeida | HR Consulting (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  5. "Rui Rio no Millennium BCP". Semanario SOL (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  6. Certificados, Ordem dos Contabilistas. "Ordem dos Contabilistas critica ausência de Rui Rio nas eleições". www.occ.pt. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  7. Paul Ames (January 14, 2018), Centrist elected to lead Portugal’s opposition party Politico Europe.
  8. Andrei Khalip (April 18, 2018), Portugal government, opposition agree to cooperate after feud Reuters.
  9. Paul Ames (January 19, 2020), Rui Rio clings on as Portugal’s center-right leader Politico Europe.
  10. Paul Ames (January 18, 2019), Portugal’s opposition woes Politico Europe.
  11. Paul Ames (January 19, 2020), Rui Rio clings on as Portugal’s center-right leader Politico Europe.
  12. "Rui Rio: 'A maçonaria tenta condicionar muitas coisas'". Semanario SOL (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  13. Benevides, Pedro. "Análise: Da maçonaria à falta de ética. Os golpes de Rio e os ataques mais duros a Luís Montenegro". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  14. Lusa, Agência. "Rui Rio diz que a Maçonaria está "a tentar condicionar muitas coisas" no país". www.dnoticias.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  15. "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  16. "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Estrangeiras". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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