The President of the Republic welcomed this Wednesday the agreement between the Government and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities for the decentralization of powers in education and health and highlighted the support of the mayors of the PS and PSD.
Having an agreement is very good and it is an effort of two parties, and of independent mayors, that is, not aligned in parties”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in Lisbon, told journalists.
According to the head of state, “It’s an important step toward democracy.”
It’s very good, because I’ve been talking for months and months and months about the need for this agreement and decentralization to move forward”, said the President of the Republic.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that, if the decentralization of powers “really advances, now, based on this agreement, until the end of the year and the following year”, it means that “It was worth drawing attention to what was in trouble, it was late, there was still no agreement.”
On Monday, the National Association of Municipalities of Portugal (ANMP) approved the decentralization agreement established with the Government for the areas of education and health.
The agreement was approved by a majority in the General Council of the ANMP, with the votes in favor of the mayors elected by the PS and PSD and the votes against the mayors of the PCP.
At the end of this meeting of the General Council, which took place in Coimbra, the president of the ANMP, Luísa Salgueiro, welcomed the “enormous consensus” reached after months of “deep articulation with the Government” to “stabilize rules” in the areas of education and health.
Luísa Salgueiro, who chairs the Matosinhos City Council, elected by the PS, argued that “these competencies will be best exercised at a level closer to theusing resources better and serving the population better”.
Source: Observadora
