LISBON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese right-wing populist Andre Ventura said on Wednesday that he was ready to run for the leadership of the main opposition center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), according to local media reports.
Ventura, a television football pundit, said he would stand for the PSD leadership if nobody else challenged Rui Rio, a former mayor of Porto in the north of the country and the current favorite.
The PSD is faced with a leadership contest after suffering its worst local election results in history on Sunday. The PSD took control of 98 town halls out of a total of 308, far behind the 159 town halls the ruling Socialist Party (PS) won.
Party leader and former prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho announced on Tuesday that he would step down and would not stand for the re-election as party leader in January next year.
