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Nuno Melo (politician)

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Nuno Melo
Melo in 2022
Minister of National Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 April 2024
Prime MinisterLuís Montenegro
Preceded byHelena Carreiras
President of CDS – People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 April 2022
Preceded byFrancisco Rodrigues dos Santos
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
In office
26 March 2024 – 2 April 2024
ConstituencyPorto
In office
27 October 1999 – 7 June 2009
ConstituencyBraga
Member of the European Parliament
for Portugal
In office
14 July 2009 – 25 March 2024
Succeeded byVasco Becker-Weinberg
Personal details
Born
João Nuno de Lacerda Teixeira de Melo

(1966-03-18) 18 March 1966 (age 58)
Joane, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal
Political partyCDS – People's Party (1987–present)
SpouseAna Melo
Children2
Alma materUniversidade Portucalense Infante D. Henrique
OccupationLawyer • politician

João Nuno de Lacerda Teixeira de Melo (born 18 March 1966) is a Portuguese lawyer, conservative politician who is serving as Minister of National Defence, also being a member of the Assembly of the Republic, elected by Porto constituency. He was Member of the European Parliament (MEP)[1] representing the Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party (CDS-PP), of which he is president.[2]

Career

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Member of the Portuguese Parliament, 1999–2009; 2024

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Melo was a member of the Assembly of the Republic for the 8th, 9th and 10th legislative terms, and in 2004 chaired the 13th parliamentary enquiry into the 1980 Camarate air crash in which the Portuguese Prime Minister, Francisco Sá Carneiro, and the Minister of Defence died.[1][3]

In 2007, Nuno Melo was elected as Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic to replace Telmo Correia, who became Caucus leader.[4]

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2024

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Melo has been a Member of the European Parliament since the 2009 elections. He first served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs before moving to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in 2014. In addition, he has been a member of the parliament's delegations to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly and to the Mercosur. During the parliamentary term from 2009 to 2014, Melo ranked second for the number of parliamentary questions asked to the European Commission (1,434).[5]

Ahead of the 2014 European elections, the PSD named Melo second on their list, after Paulo Rangel.[6] From 2016 until 2017, he was part of the Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) that investigated the Panama Papers revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly.

President of the CDS-PP, 2022–present

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After a poor showing in the 2021 Portuguese local elections, Melo decided to advance with a candidacy for the CDS party's leadership against the incumbent president Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos.

Although, after the Assembly of the Republic was dissolved due to the inability of the Socialist Government to pass a budget, which meant there were going to be elections soon,[7] Rodrigues dos Santos canceled the 29th Congress in a generally controversial move, which led to many prominent figures leaving the party.[8]

After a defeat in the 2022 legislative election, where for the first time in its history CDS got no seats in parliament, Rodrigues dos Santos resigned as leader and the new congress was set to April.[9] Backed by big figures associated with the party, such as former president Paulo Portas,[10] Melo won the party's leadership with 73% of the votes, becoming the 11th president of the CDS-PP.[11]

In the preparation to the 2024 legislative election, Nuno Melo joined Luís Montenegro from the PSD and Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira from the PPM in the Democratic Alliance coalition.[12] The coalition won the election and CDS-PP returned to the Assembly of the Republic with 2 deputies.[13] Shortly after, Nuno Melo was appointed as Minister of National Defence in the XXIV Constitutional Government, led by Luís Montenegro.[14]

Electoral history

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European Parliament election, 2009

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Main article: 2009 European Parliament election in Portugal
Ballot: 7 June 2009
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PSD Paulo Rangel 1,131,744 31.7 8 +1
PS Vital Moreira 946,818 26.5 7 –5
BE Miguel Portas 382,667 10.7 3 +2
CDU Ilda Figueiredo 379,787 10.6 2 ±0
CDS–PP Nuno Melo 298,423 8.4 2 ±0
MEP Laurinda Alves 55,072 1.5 0 new
PCTP/MRPP Orlando Alves 42,940 1.2 0 ±0
Other parties 95,744 2.7 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 235,748 6.6 – –
Turnout 3,568,943 36.78 22 –2
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[15]

European Parliament election, 2019

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Main article: 2019 European Parliament election in Portugal
Ballot: 26 May 2019
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS Pedro Marques 1,104,694 33.4 9 +1
PSD Paulo Rangel 725,399 21.9 6 ±0
BE Marisa Matias 325,093 9.8 2 +1
CDU João Ferreira 228,045 6.9 2 –1
CDS–PP Nuno Melo 204,792 6.2 1 ±0
PAN Francisco Guerreiro 168,015 5.1 1 +1
Alliance Paulo Sande 61,652 1.9 0 new
Livre Rui Tavares 60,446 1.8 0 ±0
Basta! André Ventura 49,388 1.5 0 new
NC Paulo de Morais 34,634 1.1 0 new
Other parties 116,743 2.7 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 235,748 3.5 – –
Turnout 3,307,644 30.75 21 ±0
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[16]

CDS–PP leadership election, 2022

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Ballot: 2 April 2022
Candidate Votes %
Nuno Melo 854 77.5
Miguel Mattos Chaves 104 9.4
Others 144 13.1
Turnout 1,102
Source: Observador[17]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b European Parliament, Nuno Melo, accessed 21 October 2013
  2. ^ "Um homem entre a paixão da política e o amor à agricultura". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  3. ^ noticias.pt.msn.com, 14 February 2013, Camarate: Nuno Melo recomenda audição de quem autorizou venda de armas ao Irão Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Gomes, Margarida (2007-05-09). "Nuno Melo deverá ascender hoje à vice-presidência da Assembleia da República". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  5. ^ Toby Vogel (April 15, 2014), It’s goodbye from… European Voice.
  6. ^ Dave Keating (February 24, 2014), More Parliament candidates announced European Voice.
  7. ^ Demony, Catarina; Goncalves, Sergio (2021-11-03). "Portugal's president to dissolve parliament; snap election looms". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  8. ^ "Rodrigues dos Santos provoca debandada no CDS-PP". www.jn.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  9. ^ "Chicão demite-se. "Ao fim de 47 anos, o CDS perde a sua representação parlamentar"". TSF Rádio Notícias (in European Portuguese). 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  10. ^ Rodrigues, Sofia. "Paulo Portas vai ao congresso dar o "voto" a Nuno Melo". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  11. ^ Rodrigues, Sofia. "Nuno Melo conquista 73% dos votos e lidera comissão política nacional do CDS". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  12. ^ Lusa, Jornal Económico com (2023-12-21). "PSD e CDS-PP vão avançar com coligação pré-eleitoral para as legislativas e europeias". O Jornal Económico (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  13. ^ "CDS volta ao Parlamento com dois deputados". www.sabado.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  14. ^ "Nuno Melo, o novo ministro da Defesa: antigo Polícia Militar, colecionador de armas, deputado "brigão"". Expresso (in Portuguese). 2024-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  15. ^ "Comissão Nacional de Eleições Mapa Oficial n.º 1/2009" (PDF). Diário da República. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Comissão Nacional de Eleições Mapa Oficial n.º 5/2019" (PDF). Diário da República. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Melo: "Costa tem os olhos no Terreiro do Paço, mas está já com o coração em Bruxelas" - como aconteceu". Observador. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
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Party political offices
Preceded by President of CDS – People's Party
2022–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of National Defence
2024–present 		Incumbent


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