The Minister of Culture will explain the “hasty dismissals” to the parliamentary committee

The Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodriguez, will be urgently heard in Parliament after the approval this Wednesday of a request from the PS, which seeks clarification regarding the “hasty dismissal” of organizations responsible for cultural heritage.

The request, approved this Wednesday by the parliamentary committee on culture, communications, youth and sports, with votes for the PS, Liberal Initiative and Chegu, and votes against the SDP (the rest of the left parties were absent), requires an urgent hearing of the minister on “heritage politics, dismissals and appointments : EPE museums and monuments, cultural heritage of intellectual property, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and Torre de Belém.”

At issue is the decision, published on Tuesday, dismissing the directors of the Museum and Monuments of Portugal (MMP) and the Cultural Heritage (PC) and appointing a new director of the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower.

However, this question is already in the past: on May 20, the parliamentary group of socialists already asked the government whether it intends to abolish the constitution of the Institute of Cultural Heritage and the company Museus e Monumentos de Portugal.

This is because on International Museum Day, Dalila Rodrigues described as “disastrous” the reform carried out by the previous government in the field of cultural heritage with the creation of MMP and PC and implemented in January this year, which led to “bewilderment and anxiety” in the PS.

According to Socialist deputies, on the one hand, the position of guardianship is contrary to “good practice, examples and good results that similar models have in other countries”, on the other hand, the statements made are “untimely, since this model has only five months” of application.

This “does not demonstrate an assessment of the reorganization of the heritage management model, but merely a residue and pattern already evident in other departments of this government, which it intends to abolish only for the sake of reversing it, without any study, planning or vision to do so.” sector,” they accuse.

Thus, in a request approved on Wednesday, the parliamentary group of the PS expresses doubt as to what motivated the “hasty dismissals” in two bodies after “untimely statements about the qualifications of the reorganization, which has not yet had time to demonstrate its shortcomings” or virtues and carry out the necessary assessment that should be done at the right time.”

Socialists also doubt the “legitimacy and non-interference of the Ministry in the matter of appointing directors of museums and monuments, since autonomy and deconcentration are among the main goals and missions underlying the creation of museums and monuments of the EPE and which gives it – the board of directors – this competence.”

There is then a request to “clarify this” and “leave no doubt about the motives that led to this result,” about respect for the rule of law, and about decisions “that may promote greater centralization, less autonomy and, as a consequence, paralysis of power.” proper functioning of the Museus e Monumentos EPE and its constituent structures.”

The reform carried out by the PS government led to the creation of the public institution Patrimóniocultural and the public commercial enterprise Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, based on the structure of the former General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, and was accompanied by the elimination of the regional directorates. culture, with the transfer of powers in the field of heritage to the Regional Commissions for Coordination and Development.

Socialist MPs believe that the possible failure of this reform is “serious” and could lead to “serious damage to the commitments made at both the RDP and the RDP level.” [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência] for culture, both in terms of autonomy and the non-interference that the state should have in relation to state-owned companies.”