He had wanted to be leader of the PS for years, and he achieved it two months ago. He's had a bumpy ride and has "scars". Even if he loses, there may not be a price on his head. The morning after the election of Pedro Nuno Santos as PS secretary-general, and after a meeting between the two, his predecessor, António Costa, made a point of leaving the message that "no PS leader is obliged to win any elections", adding, in relation to the specific circumstances in which the Socialists are contesting the early legislative elections on March 10: "You can't be asked to do in three months what others have had several years to prepare." While several leaders agree that, after eight years of the PS at the head of government, it is difficult to meet the challenge ahead, the fact is that they are convinced that Pedro Nuno Santos will be able to make history and ensure that the PS remains in government. Not least because among the Socialists there is still a feeling of revolt at the way António Costa had to resign in the wake of Operation Influencer. To fulfill this mission, Pedro Nuno Santos promises to defend the "legacy" of António Costa's governments and the history of the PS, as he considers "PS governance to be an asset". However, he is committed to demonstrating that the PS remains "the only alternative", the "party of stability", and that, with you, there will be a "new impetus", not least because "there are problems to be solved" and the PS's "project" for the country "is unfinished". Pedro Nuno Santos, now 46, had long hoped to be secretary-general and wanted to be prime minister. In the run-up to the 2018 Congress, he made this clear in an interview with Antena 1. As the electoral timetable was rushed, he had to run and take over the leadership two years earlier than he had imagined, winning the direct elections against José Luís Carneiro, with a result of 60.83% against 37.4%. Suddenly, Pedro Nuno Santos was forced to grow up. However, there are those who note that he "still shows some insecurity" in his new role. But several leaders underline the "thoughtfulness", "balance" and "maturity" he showed in setting up the PS leadership and electoral lists, maintaining the tradition of ensuring internal unity. He is seen as a "radical", especially since, in 2010, at a party event, he challenged Portugal's ability to pay off its public debt, saying: "Either you get your act together, or we won't pay. If we don't pay the debt and if we tell them, the German bankers' legs will tremble." The fact is that Pedro Nuno Santos has since gained an image of "impulsiveness" and of having carried out ministerial duties with too much "informality". A mark that stuck to him after he had to resign as Minister of Infrastructure on December 29, 2022, because Alexandra Reis, who was later appointed Secretary of State for the Treasury and was dismissed from the government when Correio da Manhã reported on the case, had been paid compensation of half a million euros for leaving the TAP board. Pedro Nuno Santos assumed, weeks after leaving the government, that it was he who had authorized the compensation via WhatsApp. Even before that, at the end of June 2022, Pedro Nuno Santos had given himself the image of running the Ministry of Infrastructure with "informality", when he went ahead with the decision to build the new airport in Montijo, through an order that Prime Minister António Costa forced him to revoke. Impulsiveness and "scars" But there are those who point out to PÚBLICO that those who consider Pedro Nuno Santos in this way are confusing "impulsiveness and decisiveness". "He's not a sober politician, he delivers with passion, and that makes it easy to confuse [the two characteristics]," says a Socialist leader. He notes that his public image "also has to do with the passionate and fierce way he does politics". And he maintains that Pedro Nuno Santos has "characteristics that can be caricatured". He himself made a point of admitting that not everything in his political career has gone smoothly when he presented his candidacy for leader. "The Portuguese, like the PS militants, know my qualities and defects, my combativeness, my will to make things happen, my successes. And my mistakes and scars," he said. He added: "The mistakes and scars we bear are part of our lives. Those who don't do, those who don't decide, those who just stick to what exists rarely make mistakes." In his favor, he has pointed out that, as minister, he made TAP a profit, as well as CP. And there are those who stress the success he had in his role as Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs between 2015 and 2019, when he was the pivot of the government's bilateral negotiations with the BE, PCP and PEV. He took up this government post after a long career and political experience. With a degree in Economics from the Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, the son of an industrialist and the grandson of a shoemaker, Pedro Nuno Santos was secretary-general of the JS between 2004 and 2008. He entered Parliament as a member of parliament in 2005, elected by the Aveiro constituency, a list he has always been on since then, as a native of São João da Madeira. In fact, he chaired the PS-Aveiro Federation between 2010 and 2017. From an early age, Pedro Nuno Santos had a very personal way of doing politics. His first act as leader of the JS was, on August 30, 2004, to rent a speedboat and go with journalists to hold a press conference off the coast of Portugal, next to the ship of the pro-abortion movement Womem on Waves, which Paulo Portas, then Minister of Defense, forbade from docking in Portuguese ports. He was one of the leaders of the Youth for Yes movement, which involved JS and BE in the referendum campaign that decriminalized abortion in 2007. In Parliament, he presented a draft law on same-sex marriage, which the then prime minister and PS leader, José Sócrates, did not allow to go ahead. Legalization will be a reality, but in 2010, through a bill proposed by José Sócrates. If he doesn't win the elections and if he doesn't suffer a "dishonorable defeat", or a second defeat in new early parliamentary elections, Pedro Nuno Santos should continue to lead the PS at least until the local elections in 2025. But if he wins on March 10, he will be the leader who meets the challenge of leading the PS, for the fourth time in succession, to form a government.