Manuela Gonzaga. Credit to: João Silveira

Next January, Portugal will have new presidential elections. Political activity in Portugal has been intense, and in the aftermath of recent legislative elections, several candidates line up for the political campaign. Manuela Gonzaga is one of those candidates, standing out in this scope, however, for explicitly supporting basic income.

At 64 years old, Manuela, a historian, writer and ex-journalist, has decided to embark in the presidential race in May this year. In her own words, the decision was made to run for President so as to lend her voice to all those who have lost theirs, or that never had it. As in a cry of revolt against the faceless and limitless brutal economic dictatorship, that is suffocating humankind. Manuela is supported by the political party PAN, and just as the latter, is a defender of the basic income concept.

Being so important within a pack of social and political measures, Manuela has explored and deepened her knowledge about basic income and its potential implication in social life. To this end, she and the Lisbon basic income activist group have met and discussed more deeply these potential implications, in a meeting held in the past 22^nd of September.

More information at:

In Portuguese:

Wikipédia, “Manuela Gonzaga”.

Miguel Santos, “Manuela Gonzaga. Corrida para Belém tem mais um candidato”, O Observador, August 3 2015

Manuela Gonzaga Presidential official website.