The news of the former prime minister's death at age 88 was announced by PSD president Luís Montenegro during the party's National Council, to audible applause in the room.

Almost simultaneously, in a statement, Impresa, the media group he founded, reported that Francisco Pinto Balsemão died "of natural causes" and that "his final moments were shared by his family."

Balsemão founded the weekly newspaper Expresso in 1973, still during the dictatorship, and SIC, Portugal's first private television station, in 1992.

He was one of the founders, along with Francisco Sá Carneiro, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), later the Social Democratic Party (PSD), in 1974. He remained its number one member to this day, and was currently a member of the Council of State, the advisory body to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

His last political intervention took place on September 16th, through a written message of support for presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes, former president of the PSD.

The former prime minister expressed confidence in a Marques Mendes victory in the presidential elections, but warned that "it won't be easy," with "candidates for all tastes" and "overcrowding in elections very close."

"The mission ahead will not be easy, with local elections on the horizon, a diverse selection of presidential candidates for all tastes, and a population still wounded by the calamity of the fires and the brutal accident in Lisbon, with the painful consequences we all regret," he warned in a message addressed to the political committee of Marques Mendes' presidential candidacy.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro remembered the party's founder as a "symbol of the founding" of the PSD and recalled the many times he urged the party to "deepen social democracy."

He also announced that the government intends to declare a day of national mourning for the funeral of Francisco Pinto Balsemão, who died yesterday, 21 October, at the age of 88.