This decision was announced by Jeronimo de Souza at a meeting of the Central Committee. which was announced to be preparing a National PKP Conference to be held next weekend, at which the PKP, “continuing its own assessment, reflecting on the state of its health and the requirements corresponding to the duties entrusted to it, raised the question of his replacement in those functions, which he fulfills while remaining a member of the Central Committee of the PKP.
At this point, the Central Committee praises “the great dedication and commitment with which he assumed these lofty duties over a long period, an example of commitment to the ideal and project of the PKP, in the service of the workers, the people and the country of the world, friendship and solidarity among peoples.” And he emphasizes Jeronimo de Souza’s “willingness” to “continue his fighting” in the Central Committee.
Faced with the question of what the party “understands in the face of a particular situation” – for health reasons -, This will proposed on the 12th, next Saturday, “to elect Paulo Raimundo General Secretary of the PKP”, who, according to the party, has “a life path marked by diverse experiences, abilities, inclusion in the team” and “prepared for the responsibility that binds the social dimension with communication, contact and identification with the working and popular masses, as well as with the party, its organizations and activists.
The thought is emphasized: “Paulo Raimundo of the younger generation.”
In the profile of his new general secretary, which the PKP maintains, he puts at the head the sign that he is “the son of workers, born in the municipality of Beja”. Paulo Raimundo was born in Cascais, but at the age of three he moved to Setúbal, “where his parents settled and worked.” “He attended the Faralyan Primary School in Sado Parish of Setúbal, a school built during the April Revolution in the dynamics of solidarity and voluntary work of workers and the local population,” and he had, says PCP, “a notable childhood for life on the streets and along the river Sado”, even visiting the “seafood harvest” while helping his mother.
His school career which he spent in Setúbal is summarized as follows: “He attended TV school in the 5th and 6th grades and then attended the school of Ana de Castro Osorio in Bela Vista, in Setúbal where he attended the 7th Class. th, 8th and 9th grades and for the first time encountered the dynamics of associative, organizational and student struggle. He later enrolled in the 10th grade of Bela Vista High School, at a time when the student dynamic in various expressions is very lively and political infighting. became a student worker and ended his school career finishing 12th grade studying at night at Escola Secundária D. Manuel Martins, also in Setúbal.”
The profile highlights “the realities that allowed him to feel the contradictions of everyday life, the reality of low-paid work, exploitation and instability”, while “he worked as a carpenter, was a baker and cultural animator at Associação Cristã da Mocidade (ACM). in Bella Vista.
Paulo Raimundo, now 46, “joined the Portuguese Communist Youth in 1991. […] party member since 1994 and official since 2004 […] In 1996, at the XV Congress of the PKP, he was elected a member of the Central Committee. In connection with the 16th Congress in 2000, he was elected to the Political Commission of the Central Committee of the PKP.
But recently “at the 20th Congress he was elected to the Secretariat of the Central Committee”, and “at the 21st Congress he was elected to the Political Commission and the Secretariat of the Central Committee.”
In other words, he worked for the PCP for 31 years.
Jeronimo de Souza, 75, is leaving the party leadership after almost 18 years in power. He is currently the only member of parliament who took part in the 1975 Constituent Assembly.
