Marina Mendez becomes Vice President of the House of Gaia.

The Vice President of the Chamber of Vila Nova de Gaia is now being secured by Councilor Marina Mendez following the arrest and provisional detention of Vice President Patrosinio Azevedo as part of Operation Babylon, the President announced today.

“I have decided to hand over the functions of vice president to Dr. Marina Mendez, number 3 on the municipal list and responsible for the areas of education and social activities,” Gaia Mayor Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez said today in a statement read earlier. the beginning of an open meeting of the executive power of the municipality.

The areas in charge of Patrocínio Azevedo, namely those related to municipal works and roads, management, conservation and construction of public facilities and public spaces, will be transferred to Eduardo Vitor Rodríguez, he said.

Areas related to urban planning, licensing, and land policy fall under the jurisdiction of Councilor Celia Correia, who handles legal affairs, general municipal administration, municipal inspection and administrative inspections, and the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez also mentioned that the Vice President has not resigned from his mandate.

“The court order determining the measures of coercion does not mean resignation, and he himself did not resign. According to the law, no one else has the right to make this decision, since the mandate is personal,” he said. emphasized.

Adding that: “If the court order (which we still do not know in its original content) does not allow for the excuse of absence during the period of pre-trial detention, only after six consecutive absences will the mandate be lost and the subsequent replacement by a colleague immediately listed. This issue will be investigated only after familiarization with the court ruling, which is expected.”

Marina Mendez, currently appointed Vice President of the Chamber of Gaia in the Porto region, has a degree in social work and a master’s degree in public intervention, the municipality’s page says.

Marina Mendez is currently responsible for education, social action, employment, cohesion and housing.

The deputy mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia, Patrosinio Azevedo, has been taken into custody as part of the investigation into Operation Babylon, the Porto Criminal Investigation Court (TIC) said on Friday.

This core process of Operation Babylon focuses on “violating the rules and regulations of city licensing processes in favor of promoters associated with projects of high density and scale, involving real estate interests in the order of 300 million euros, by offering and accepting monetary rewards. compensation.”

Operation Babylon deals with crimes of obtaining or offering undue advantages, active and passive corruption, evasion and abuse of power committed by an official or person holding a political position.