PSD de Gaia says the president cannot continue to hold office after conviction

The Social Democratic Councilor of the Gaia Chamber, Rui Rocha Pereira, said this Monday that the president of this municipality does not have the political conditions to continue in office after he was sentenced to lose his mandate, while Eduardo Vitor Rodrigues speaks of “opportunism ” .

“The SDP believes in justice and believes that, regardless of the final decision, the political conditions have not been created for the current chairman of the chamber to continue to occupy the position to which he was elected,” said the Social Democrat, who also heads the SDP council /Gaya at the beginning of an open meeting of the municipal executive power.

In response, the president of the city council of Vila Nova de Gaia, the socialist Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez, called him an “opportunist.”

“He has shown himself to be an opportunist,” he said, before claiming that “opportunist advisers” were helping to discredit state institutions.

“I had to congratulate him not as a councilor, but as a judge, because I wanted to take justice into my own hands,” said Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez.

In addition, the mayor stated that he did not see Rui Pereira Rocha “asking for the head” of other mayors elected by the PSD in similar situations.

Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez added that the reasons why he was accused and subsequently sentenced to lose his mandate “are false and this will be proven in due time.”

Last Tuesday, the mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia was sentenced to lose his position and pay a fine of 8,400 euros for the personal use of an electric car belonging to the municipality.

Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez, who has headed the Porto district municipality since 2013, was convicted by the Vila Nova de Gaia court of embezzlement.

The judge also sentenced the mayor’s wife for committing the same crime and also paid a fine of 8,400 euros.