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Carlos Manuel Martins do Vale César, GCC (born 30 October 1956) is a Portuguese politician and former President of the Regional Government of the Portuguese
autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or territory, internal territory of a sovereign state that has ...
of the
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
. He currently serves as member of the Assembly of the Republic, member of the
Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
and President of the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
.


Early life

He was born at
Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...
into a family with republican and democratic traditions and a history of participatory activism. His grand-uncle Manuel Augusto César was a social activist during the Portuguese First Republic, who edited the newspapers ''O Proletário'', the weekly ''Federação Operária'', the ''Protesto'' (the publication of the Centro Socialista Antero de Quental) and ''Protesto do Povo'' (another socialist publication).


Career

His civic knowledge, following the Carnation Revolution, was profoundly shaped by his brother Horácio do Vale César (also a journalist), and many of the socialist figures of the period, including Jaime Gama, Mário Mesquita and Medeiros Ferreira (all students of the school Liceu Nacional Antero de Quental). He began public life in the opposition to the Estado Novo, in the last years of the regime, becoming a member of the Cooperativa Cultural ''Sextante'', which was extinct by the National Assembly, in December 1972. In 1973, at 17 years of age, he became a member of the Comissão Dinamizadora da Comissão Democrática Eleitoral, in Ponta Delgada. On April 26, 1974 he founded the ''Associação de Estudantes do Liceu Antero de Quental'' (''Antero Quental Students' Association'') and, a month later, the ''Juventude Socialista'' (''Socialist Youth'') of the Azores. He was a member of the first Secretariat elected to the Socialist Party (PS) in Ponta Delgada, and was part of the delegation from the Azores in the First National Congress of the PS, participating in the party youth-wing, the ''Juventude Socialista'' (JS). In 1975, he entered the Faculty of Law at the
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...
, although he did not complete his
licenciatura A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universit ...
. During his period of studies, he also became involved in the ''Direcção da Associação Académica da Faculdade de Direito'' (''Directorate of the Law Faculty's Academic Association''). While in Lisbon he worked as administrative coordinator in a local cooperative responsible for documentation and culture. During this time he continued as the national leader of the JS (to this day he retains a national honorary status in the organization). He was an adjunct to the Secretary of State for Public Administration during the II Constitutional Government. His political career did not slow down, when he returned to the Azores: in January 1981 he entered the Azorean Legislative Assembly at the age of 26. Shortly after, he became involved in the ''Direcção do Grupo Parlamentar'' (''Directorate of the Parliamentary Group'') of the PS, as well as various parliamentary commissions, as well as presiding over the commission on Economic Affairs. Between 1983 and 1985, he was elected as Regional Legislative Assembly's Vice-President, and took on the Presidency of PS Azores. He returned to national politics between 1987 and 1989, as a representative in the Assembly of the Republic, in the António Guterres government. Once again returning to the Azores, he became a member of the Municipal Assembly of Ponta Delgada, as well as the President of the Civil Parish of Fajã de Baixo. On 30 October 1994 (his 38th birthday) he was made the Presidente of the PS Azores, with 92% of the votes.


Presidency of the Azores

In 1996, he won the elections for the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores, by a narrow margin, winning 46% of the votes cast. The PS, under his leadership, would contest the regional legislative elections in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Although these victories brought cohesion and stability, they also brought stresses associated with internal change. Under Cesar the Political statute of the Azores was changed to limit the number of successive mandate's occupied by the president, resulting in his announcement (in 2008) not to run as his party's candidate for the 2012 elections. This was a bit of a controversy, as it was unclear at the time that Carlos César would break his own promise not run again. Vasco Cordeiro was eventually chosen as his party's successor, inline with the politics established in César's leadership. The two other candidates for the position, José Contente and Sérgio Ávila, were possible successors, but easily abandoned by the PS: Contente was a recognized apparatchik of the party and about the same age as César, while Ávila was point-man in the Vice-Presidency (responsible for regional finances) and a Terceirense, which hurt his chances of succeeding on the vote-rich island of São Miguel, where the PSD leader and mayor of Ponta Delgada (Berta Cabral) could easily obtain an advantage.


Post-Azores

Carlos César has been elected member of the Assembly of the Republic in the 2015 election, therefore returning to the Parliament where he has been between 1987 and 1991. He is one of the five personalities elected by the Assembly of the Republic to the
Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
on 18 December 2015, and he took office on 12 January 2016.


Honours

* Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
(February 19, 2013)


Personal life

César is married to Luísa Maria Assis Vital Gomes do Vale César. Their son is the politician Francisco César.Ivo Oliveira (28 March 2019)
Family affair rocks Portuguese government
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Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...
''.


References


Notes


Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cesar, Carlos 1956 births Living people Members of the 5th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 13th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) People from Ponta Delgada Presidents of the Government of the Azores Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians