In a statement, the IL announced that João Cotrim Figueiredo will be joined by the party's vice-president, Ana Martins, as number two on the list, while the third position went to António Costa Amaral, an engineer and "responsible for several of the party's programs and manifestos", the fourth to professor Paulo Alcarva, and the fifth to the independent Inês Gregório.

The names were approved today by the IL's National Council, a meeting that took place in a hotel unit in Porto.

Cotrim Figueiredo had 47 votes in favor, two abstentions, and zero votes against.

The session also served to approve the guiding principles of the IL's European Manifesto, a document "to be built with contributions from members of the entire party" and which "will be based on the idea that Europe is the privileged space of freedom in the world", reads the statement sent to the Lusa agency.

"Freedom, which for the IL is an essential condition for the development of societies, for the growth of economies and, above all, for the fulfillment of people. Therefore, it is essential not to take freedom for granted. The IL will fight to deepen freedom in its four dimensions: individual, political, economic, and social", it adds.

In the opening speech of this National Council, the president of the IL, Rui Rocha, in a phase of the intervention dedicated to the European elections, praised the IL's top candidate, João Cotrim Figueiredo, who was in the front row of the room.

Rui Rocha also appealed to the participation of the Portuguese in an electoral act that he considered "very important" given that, he said, "the role of Europe is the role of freedom", but "there are many people outside Europe and within Europe who want to appropriate democracy to pervert its rules and make absolutely illiberal policies".

"These European elections are very important. I want to make a clear appeal to the Portuguese to participate. They can do so on June 2, by registering anywhere in the country, and on June 9 at any polling station in the country", he said.

Earlier, in a moment dedicated to anti-corruption measures, Rui Rocha presented the ideas that he intends to propose to the Minister of Justice, Rita Júdice.

"If you want to fight corruption, let's be serious. Let's eliminate these duplications and triplications. Let's simplify and reduce bureaucracy", defended Rui Rocha, after listing the current entities that have attributions in the area of fighting corruption and defending the creation of only one entity "that has the means and powers to fight corruption".

The IL will also propose that the appointment of regulators and senior management positions be made through an international competition and wants the administrative courts to be much faster.

"One of the ideas that leads to corruption is this idea that the courts do not work and the temptation is to resolve things outside of justice. Today, it takes an average of 850 days to make a decision in the first instance. It is necessary to align with the average of the European Union and start doing it in 400 days", he justified.

In the statement shared later, the IL emphasizes that it "will deepen the fight against corruption and promote transparency in the EU, focusing on the process of allocating European funds".

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