Ana Catarina Mendes
Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and for Parliamentary Affairs
Assumed office
30 March 2022
Prime MinisterAntónio Costa
Preceded byTiago Antunes (Secretary of State Assistant to the Prime Minister)
Duarte Cordeiro (Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs)
Deputy Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
In office
9 December 2015 – 17 October 2019
Secretary-GeneralAntónio Costa
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJosé Luís Carneiro
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
Assumed office
27 October 1995
ConstituencySetúbal
Personal details
Born
Ana Catarina Veiga Santos Mendonça Mendes

(1973-01-14) 14 January 1973
Coimbra, Portugal
Political partySocialist
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2006; div. 2020)​
Alma materUniversity of Lisbon
University Institute of Lisbon

Ana Catarina Veiga dos Santos Mendonça Mendes (born 14 January 1973) is a Portuguese politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who has been a deputy in the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic since 1995 and, from 2019, led the party in the National Assembly. In March 2022, she was appointed Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the XXIII Constitutional Government.[1]

Early life

Ana Catarina Veiga Santos Mendonça Mendes was born in Coimbra on 14 January 1973. She obtained an undergraduate law degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and a master's degree in New Frontiers of Law at the ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. Becoming a socialist at an early age, Mendes led the Almada and the Setúbal District Federation of Socialist Youth (Juventude Socialista), the youth wing of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS). She married Paulo Pedroso but they are now divorced.[2][3][4]

Political career

Mendes served as a councillor in the Almada municipality from 1993 to 1997 and was elected to the national Assembly of the Republic in 1995 as a representative of the PS for the Setúbal District, a position she continues to occupy. From 2015 to 2019 she served as Assistant Secretary-General of the PS. From 2019, she was the Socialist Party's first female Parliamentary Leader, in which role she stressed her intention to promote further diversity within the Parliamentary party.[2][3][5] Following the 2022 Portuguese legislative election, Mendes was appointed as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.[1]

Broadcasting

Since early 2018 Mendes has been a regular political commentator on Portuguese television, beginning with Televisão Independente (TVI) and the radio station TSF, then moving to a weekly programme on the SIC Notícias television channel, before moving back to TVI.[6][7]

Personal life

At the time of her appointment to the government in 2022, Mendes’ brother António Mendonça Mendes served as Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs and her sister-in-law Patrícia Melo e Castro was a member of Prime Minister Costa's staff.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Ana Catarina Mendes, a dirigente do PS que chegou ao Governo". SIC Noticias. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Biografia Ana Catarina Veiga Santos Mendonça Mendes". Assembleia de República. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Registo de Interesses". Assembleia de República. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "Ana Catarina Mendes sai em defesa de Paulo Pedroso". Sábado. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Ana Catarina Mendes eleita secretária-geral adjunta do PS com 84,84% dos votos". Observador. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Ana Catarina Mendes substitui Jorge Coelho na Circulatura do Quadrado". Público. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ana Catarina Mendes na Circulatura do Quadrado". Cision. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Ivo Oliveira (28 March 2019), Family affair rocks Portuguese government Politico Europe.
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