Opposition in Lisbon denies obstructing Carlos Moedas’ work and accuses him of victimization

Members of the opposition council in the Lisbon City Council today denied that they were interfering with the work of mayor Carlos Moedas and accused the Social Democrat mayor of adopting a strategy of victimization.

The allegations were made during a public meeting of the Lisbon Chamber during the period before the agenda (PAOD), and the elected PS were the most critical.

In contrast to Carlos Moedas’ first year as president of the Lisbon city council, Socialist councilor Ines Drummond accused the Social Democrat of taking “isolated and inconsistent measures.”

“Demos [PS] time and a year later, we still do not know his vision of the city. He relied on PS to find the balance. That’s how it was in the budget,” the socialist adviser said, denying that “obstacles” had been put up.

Inez Drummond accused Carlos Moedas of self-flagellation and pointed to management failures, namely in matters related to housing and urban hygiene.

In response, the Social Democrat mayor accused the PS of demagogy and denied support from the Socialists.

“The adviser said that we are counting on the PS. If she told me that this is what I experienced, I imagine what would have happened if she hadn’t. I counted on the PS, but not enough. They just didn’t block what they could. ‘t,” the mayor protested.

Regarding the criticism regarding urban hygiene and the garbage problem, Carlos Moedas noted that the problem “has been around for many years” and that PSD hopes to address it.

“There is a problem in urban hygiene, but we inherited this problem, and we are going to solve it. I hope to solve it with your help,” he urged.

On the other hand, Bloc de Esquerda adviser Beatriz Gómez Diaz and elected independent (Coalition Mais Lisbon) Paula Marques accused Carlos Moedas of obstructing proposals that the opposition intends to discuss in chamber sessions.

In turn, PCP adviser João Ferreira cited the urban hygiene issue to support Carlos Moedas, confirming that the garbage issue already comes from other mandates, but noting that it has “aggravated in recent years”.

At a July meeting with the Lisbon Municipality Workers’ Union (STML), the Local Administration Workers’ Union (STAL) and the Public Administration Workers’ Union (SINTAP), Carlos Moedas announced that 18 million euros had been paid to parish councils. responsible for cleaning the streets and around the eco-islands.

Then the mayor said that the problem of urban hygiene “comes from afar, it is not a problem that is created today” or that it belongs to this mayor.

At the time, STML’s Vitor Reis agreed that urban hygiene issues in Lisbon were not new and were exacerbated with the transfer of powers from council to parish councils in 2014.

However, he added, with the end of the pandemic and the return of tourism, the problem has worsened.

For the current term (2021-2025), the executive branch consists of seven elected by the Novos Tempos coalition (three from the SDP, two from the SDS-NP and two independents), who are the only ones with designated roles. seven from “Mais Lisboa” (five from PS, one from Livre and one independent), two from the PCP/PEV coalition (both from PCP) and one from BE.