The President of the Republic asked the Portuguese mayors to focus on the “true challenges of the country” and to avoid “opening internal fronds without visible alternatives and for an indefinite time” because the result is “a weakening for all”.

Admitting that “he did not intend to say any of that”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa explains that not talking about the departure of the National Association of Municipalities from the Porto City Hall “was pretending that the President does not know what is happening in the country”.

Identifying the post-pandemic economic recovery, the war in Ukraine or the tight deadlines of the Recovery and Resilience Plan as the “real challenges” where mayors should look, Marcelo identifies how “unnecessary” a crisis over decentralization. In the opinion of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this problem “It’s another wear factor” in the municipal mandate and can endanger the “legitimate aspirations of the Portuguese”.

In addition to the messages sent directly to the municipality of Porto Marcelo, he also leaves a warning to the government. “[Espero] opening take into account that the transfer of powers and competences must be accompanied by the resources corresponding to these transfers”.

In his speech lasting more than half an hour, he asked for a clear signal from the Government to get out of this impasse in next year’s budget: “You are not asking miraclesbut you are asked to do what you can to maintain dialogue with the mayors, that is, with the representative association of Portuguese municipalities and the representative association of Portuguese parishes”.

The President’s statements were given in the second edition of an event with Mayors, in the former Picadeiro Real, in Belém. Among those present were the mayors of some of the largest chambers in the country such as Lisbon, Oeiras, Aveiro or Coimbra, but Rui Moreira was not present.

It’s official: Porto leaves the ANMP. “This proposal is no longer mine and becomes the city’s”, says Rui Moreira

National Association of Municipalities “nothing needs to be done”

Luísa Salgueiro does not regret the departure of the second largest municipality in the country from the Association that she heads, only “Check in“. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the meeting of mayors with the President of the Republic, the President of the National Association of Municipalities (ANMP) guarantees that she will continue to work in defense of all municipalities, “including those that are not part of the the ANMP.

Not wanting to say whether an extraordinary congress could be held soon after the decision of the Porto City Council, the mayor of Matosinhos explains that “we don’t have to do anything in relation to a particular municipality.

Assuring that “it will continue to work in the same way as before”, Luísa Salgueiro ended up assuming “very afraid” that there are no conditions to keep the mayors united and that they follow the example of Rui Moreira.