António José Seguro

António José Seguro
Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
In office
23 July 2011  28 September 2014
Preceded by José Sócrates
Succeeded by António Costa
Adjunct Minister of the Prime Minister
In office
3 July 2001  8 April 2002
Prime Minister António Guterres
Preceded by Armando Vara
Succeeded by José Luís Arnaut
Adjunct Secretary of State of the Prime Minister
In office
25 November 1997  20 July 1999
Prime Minister António Guterres
Preceded by Luís Marques Guedes
Succeeded by Vitalino Canas
Secretary of State of the Youth
In office
28 October 1995  25 November 1997
Prime Minister António Guterres
Preceded by Maria do Céu Ramos
Succeeded by Miguel Fontes
Secretary-General of the Socialist Youth
In office
29 April 1990  6 March 1994
Preceded by José Apolinário
Succeeded by Sérgio Sousa Pinto
Personal details
Born (1962-03-11) 11 March 1962
Penamacor, Portugal
Political party Socialist Party
Spouse(s) Margarida Maldonado Freitas
Children Maria Margarida
António
Alma mater Lisbon University Institute
Autonomous University of Lisbon
Religion Roman Catholicism

António José Martins Seguro (born 11 March 1962) is a Portuguese politician for the Socialist Party (PS). Seguro was Secretary General of the PS from 2011 until September 2014, and he was the leader of the biggest party of the opposition in the Portuguese Parliament.

Early life and education

Seguro was born on 11 March 1962 in Penamacor. He entered politics at a very young age and became a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) as a youth. He attended the 1st cycle program in business organization and management at the ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, but he did not graduate. Seguro has a degree in international relations awarded later by the Autonomous University of Lisbon.

Career

Seguro became involved in political activities from a very young age, always linked to the Socialist Party (PS). He was successively secretary general of Socialist Youth, president of the National Youth Council and chairman of the Youth Forum of the European Communities. He was first elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1991, and again eight years later. In 1995, the Socialist Party won the parliamentary elections, leaving the leader António Guterres to form a government. Seguro initially was Secretary of State for Youth and later assistant secretary of State's prime minister. After a cabinet reshuffle he was promoted to Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister. He also played the role of coordinator of the Standing Committee of the Portuguese Socialist Party and president of the Municipal Assembly of Penamacor. In 1999, António Guterres's PS again won the legislative elections and formed the XIV Constitutional Government, but Seguro moved to other functions. The former cabinet member was elected deputy to the European Parliament, between July 1999 and July 2001. In these two years, serving in the parliament, he was an effective member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (in these functions he was co-author of the Report on the Treaty of Nice and the Future of the European Union) and a substitute for the Commission for Employment and Social Affairs. He was also president of the Delegation for Relations with Central America and Mexico, vice president of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and president of the Portuguese Socialist delegation. After leaving Parliament, he returned to the parliament, being reelected in the elections of 2002. He was also appointed member of the National Secretariat of the Socialist Party. After the municipal elections of December 2002, he accumulated these positions with membership in the Municipal Assembly of Gouveia.[1]

After Prime Minister José Sócrates resigned as PS General Secretary on the election night of 5 June 2011, having lost the general election by a margin higher than expected, Seguro was elected leader of the party on 23 July 2011, winning 68% of the vote; his challenger, Francisco Assis, got 32%.[2]

In 2013, he was listed as one of the attendees of the annual Bilderberg Group conference with the title 'Secretary General, Socialist Party'.[3]

Electoral history

PS leadership election, 2011

Ballot: 23 July 2011
Candidate Votes %
António José Seguro
23,903
67.98
Francisco Assis
11,257
32.02
Total valid
35,160
100.00
Blank Ballots
216
0.61
Invalid Ballots
151
0.43
Total
35,527

PS leadership election, 2013

Ballot: 13 April 2013
Candidate Votes %
António José Seguro
24,843
96.53
Aires Pedro
892
3.47
Total valid
25,735
100.00
Blank Ballots
687
2.57
Invalid Ballots
303
1.13
Turnout
26,725
62.10

PS prime ministerial primary election, 2014

Ballot: 28 September 2014
Candidate Votes %
António José Seguro
55,928
31.54
António Costa
120,188
67.77
Total valid
176,116
100.00
Blank Ballots
657
0.37
Invalid Ballots
577
0.32
Turnout
177,346
70.72

References

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