Municipal deputy Miguel Coelho (PS) accused the mayor of Lisbon on Tuesday of whitewashing the “political sanitation” of the government of Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa, who was dismissed by the labor minister on charges of inaction.
“There is a serious omission in your information here” and “that serious omission is that it does not detail the involvement of this city council, which thus became complicit in the political purge of the board of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa. [SCML]”, said Miguel Coelho.
The President of the Parish Council of Santa Maria Mayor, speaking after Carlos Moedas spoke about the written information on the activities of the executive in the Municipal Assembly of Lisbon (AML), recalled previous reappointments by socialist governments such as that of Pedro Santana López, in contrast to Executive Director Luisa Montenegro (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM).
“To whitewash this sanitation with an absolutely undignified statement about the lack of response from the Santa Casa da Misericórdia on social issues, directly reaching the mayor, a man from the Socialist Party, of course yes, he never hid it, in which I have never seen any president of the board , no mayor should express the reasons for the complaint, on the contrary, it is Dr. Sergio Sintra,” said Miguel Coelho.
According to the socialist mayor, the statement of the current council leaders “makes them complicit in this sanitation, and the least that can be demanded is a public apology to Dr. Sergio Cintra” for seeing “their competence” and “fitness as citizens.” “As a professional, as a manager” in social issues,” he emphasized.
The SCML board consists of Ana Jorge (supplier), Ana Vitória Azevedo (deputy supplier) and Nuno Miguel Alves, Teresa do Passo, Sérgio Sintra and João Correia (vocalists).
The MP announced that the Socialist Bench will turn to the 6th Permanent Anti-Money Laundering Commission on Human and Social Rights, Citizenship and Transparency and Anti-Corruption, Councilor for Social Action in the Lisbon Chamber, “to explain what has failed in Santa -Case Misericórdia de Lisboa in social support.”
“What I have been saying for more than two years has nothing to do with who is there, but that at the moment Santa Casa does not give the answers we need,” responded Carlos Moedas (PSD), assuring that “it was that I told the provider and the previous provider about it.”
The Social Democrat accused that those responsible for the SCML “stopped everything they did with the municipal council” after his election as municipal president, when, as he stressed, “Social Security delegates all social assistance” in the municipality of Santa Casa.
In this sense, the mayor argued that the municipality should have a representative at the SCML table, a measure that would have been welcomed by the previous Prime Minister António Costa, but which was never implemented.
The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security on Tuesday accused sacked provider Santa Casa of “total inaction”, the administration of taking advantage of itself and rejected the idea of “political sanitization” in the dismissal.
In an interview with RTP, Minister Maria do Rosario Ramalho said she has a “very solid basis” for the decision to dismiss SCML Ombudsman Ana Jorge, as well as the rest of the board (administration) of the institution.
“I even heard that it was a political purge. It was nothing,” assured the minister, who justified the dismissal of Ana Jorge “for managerial reasons,” accusing her of “complete inaction” in the face of the financial crisis situation. what she inherited from the previous administration, repeating what the government had already stated in its resignation letter due to the lack of a restructuring plan.
“The conversation we had did not show any urgency, given the situation that existed,” said Maria do Rosario Ramalho, insisting that “nothing happened” and that Ana Jorge “has done nothing” since taking office. to improve the financial situation.
The minister assured that the process of replacing Ana Jorge is “urgent, but not hasty.”
Ana Jorge took office on May 2, 2023, chosen by the previous socialist government of António Costa, and inherited an institution in serious financial difficulties after years of the pandemic and the process of internationalization of social games carried out by the administration of the provider Edmundo. Martinho, which could have caused losses of around 50 million euros.
Following her dismissal, the provider wrote a letter to all SCML employees, accusing the government of dismissing her in a “rude, arrogant and slanderous manner” and that she was caught off guard.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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