The Porto City Council will even leave the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP). The proposal will be voted on this Monday in the Municipal Assembly, but the Observer knows that the PSD will support Rui Moreira’s decision. In addition to the 20 members of Rui Moreira’s movement, the nine elements of the PSD will also vote in favor of this exit.
A party source in the municipality of Porto reveals to the Observer that the decision was made at a meeting held this Sunday, where the consensus “it was easy”, guaranteeing that the Social Democratic caucus is “100% in tune” in the intention to vote.
If a month ago the municipality and the PSD district of Porto were in disagreement with Rui Moreira, this time there is no room for doubt. For the Social Democrats, “nothing has been changed until now and what has been done has been manifestly insufficient”. It is recalled that in the council session on April 19, where this issue was voted on, Vladimiro Feliz, candidate in the last local councils, voted against it and Alberto Machado, leader of the PSD/Porto district, abstained.
The meeting between Rui Moreira and the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, which never took place, and the recent statements by the Secretary of State for Spatial Planning and Planning, Carlos Miguel, stating that the Government will only negotiate the transfer of powers to the municipalities through the ANMP, left the PSD/Porto on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
“There is no dialogue effort on the part of the Government or the current leadership of the ANMP. Our vote of confidence stopped making sense”, stresses a party source. The PSD vote in Porto had been advanced by the newspaper Público and meanwhile confirmed by the Observer.
To the Observer, Miguel Seabra, president of the PSD/Porto council, added that “the new party leadership should reflect “the role of the party in the ANMP” in a deep and broad way”, suggesting to Luís Montenegro that he meet as soon as possible with the local leaders.
“The Government has addressed the decentralization package of disrespectful way, as well as the president of the ANMP, who is the voice of the owner, negotiated an agreement of 30 thousand euros for education in a non-serious way. What he received were crumbs and this is just the tip of the iceberg”, he justifies, also anticipating the transfer of competences in the health and social areas.
For Miguel Seabra, “what is unequal cannot be treated equally” and argues that the solution really lies in each municipality negotiating individually, “without intermediaries”their interests directly with the executive headed by António Costa.
If approved, the departure must be communicated to the General Council of the ANMP. The document proposes that, as a result of this exit, the municipality assumes a “independent and autonomousall negotiations with the State regarding decentralization of powers, “without any representation”.
It is recalled that the municipality of Porto presented, on March 25, a precautionary measure to stop decentralization in the areas of education and health. After appeal, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled last Friday “incompetent” to decide on the precautionary measure filed by the Chamber of Porto.
Rui Moreira decided to break with the ANMP for not agreeing with the way in which the Government is conducting the process of transferring powers to the municipalities in terms of decentralization and for understanding that the association was not doing enough to put pressure on the Socialist Executive for him to turn back. of negotiations
The independent accused the organization of “total failure” in the performance of “functions that are legally attributed to it” and of “absolute boycott” of the municipalities for having made “agreements with the Government without listening to the municipalities and without being entrusted to do so, ignoring their legitimate interests and concerns.” ”. He also guaranteed not to give “blank checks” and said that he preferred to negotiate directly with António Costa’s executive.
On April 12, the mayor of Porto defined the ongoing decentralization process as “distorted”, done “with the idiots” and “behind the backs” of the mayors. Rui Moreira opened the door to the exit of the ANMP autarchy, criticizing the alleged collusion of the association, chaired by the socialist Luísa Salgueiro, also mayor of Matosinhos, with the Government.
explainer. Moreira wants to slam the door, the mayors say that he lacks money. The controversy of decentralization in five questions
Source: Observadora
