NOVA University Lisbon informs that the new attempt to hold the election for the position of Rector, scheduled for this Thursday, 30 April, did not take place due to lack of quorum in the General Council.
This is the second time that the electoral act has not been carried out under the conditions defined by the Court, despite the University having ensured all necessary steps to comply with the judicial decision that ordered the repetition of the process.
NOVA University Lisbon reaffirms that it has acted throughout this process in strict compliance with the law.
The electoral process began in the first half of 2025, with the opening of the procedure leading to the election of the Rector. Following an interim injunction filed by one of the excluded candidates, the process was suspended and later resumed, culminating in the election held on 16 September 2025. At a meeting of the General Council, Professor Paulo Pereira, lecturer and researcher at the NOVA Medical School of NOVA University Lisbon, was elected in the first round with 14 votes.
In March 2026, the Lisbon Administrative Court ordered the repetition of the electoral act, with the process resuming from the stage at which Professor Pedro Maló’s candidacy had been excluded, having initially been removed from the procedure. In compliance with that decision, NOVA University Lisbon adopted the necessary measures to resume the electoral process under the same terms, with no new candidacies being admissible. The candidates admitted to the process are: Duilia de Mello, Elvira Fortunato, José Júlio Alferes, João Amaro de Matos, Paulo Pereira and Pedro Maló.
Following the judicial decision, the General Council of NOVA University Lisbon scheduled the repeated electoral act for 24 April, but it could not take place due to lack of quorum. Two members of the General Council had previously communicated their absence, while another five members were present but left the meeting before the start of proceedings.
A new attempt to hold the electoral act was subsequently scheduled for 30 April, but it also did not take place due to the lack of quorum in the General Council, by one member. Of the 10 absences recorded, five members provided prior justification, and three attended but left the meeting before the proceedings began.