The opposition in the Lisbon Chamber this Wednesday rejected the proposal of the leadership of the PSD/CDS-PP to appoint a new member of the board of directors of the municipal company Gebalis, with the PS and BE requesting recruitment data for the office of Aguiar-Branco. .
This is a contract signed by the company Gebalis – Gestão do Arrendamento da Habitação Municipal de Lisbon with the law firm José Pedro Aguiar-Branco & Associados for the provision of legal services in the framework of the collection of arrears of rent, signed on the 28th. March, a day after the Social Democrat was elected President of the Assembly of the Republic.
The PS board said in a statement that “the hiring of Aguiar-Branco’s office was taken over by the administrator who was Aguiar-Branco’s deputy at the Ministry of Defense in 2011,” referring to Gonçalo Saluse de Sampaio, who took office. as a member of the board of directors of Gebalis in December 2021.
“The above-mentioned administrator left Gebalis five days after this hiring, taking up the position of chief of staff of the Minister of Economy,” the PS indicated, requesting the hiring data of the Aguiar Branco office of the municipal housing management company of Lisbon. .
Pointing to the same facts, the BE board felt that “the confusion is growing and total”, saying that despite the existence of a transparency department, “nothing was analyzed and the entire process was carried out without transparency.”
At a closed meeting of the municipal executive, the leadership of PSD/CDS-PP proposed the appointment of Miguel Fernando Costa da Silva Pereira to the board of directors of Gebalis, following the resignation of Gonçalo Saluse de Sampaio.
The proposal was voted on by secret ballot and was defeated by nine votes against, one abstention and seven votes in favour.
Before the vote, the PS announced that it would vote against any name indicated by the chamber “until Gebalis discloses, in the name of transparency and preserving the good name of municipal companies, all details of the hiring process of José Pedro Aguiar-Branco and Associates, including the name and conditions of rejected positions.”
“The same opacity is present on the Base.gov platform, where, contrary to long-established practice in the municipality, the names of competitors are not disclosed,” said the PS adviser, expressing dissatisfaction with Gebalis’ explanation that the contract was signed through market consultations with three organizations, and the choice fell on the “most competitive price”.
In announcing the negative vote, BE emphasized that Chamber President Carlos Moedas (PSD) refused to say “that other companies, in addition to the company of the former PSD minister, [José Pedro Aguiar-Branco]consultations were held,” emphasizing that “the process is far from transparent.”
According to the proposal of the SDP/CDS-PP, the then-appointed member of the board of directors of Gebalis submitted his resignation on April 5 from the position to which he was elected by decision of the chamber, “for this reason, it is necessary to proceed with an appropriate replacement in order to ensure the normal functioning body and society.”
Regarding the appointment of a member of the board of directors, the proposal emphasizes that “public managers are selected from among persons of proven suitability, professional merit, competence and managerial experience, and a sense of the public interest” and are selected on terms of business law, in in accordance with the Regulations on the State Manager.
Gebalis has a board of directors, which corresponds to the relevant governing body, and consists of a president (a position currently held by Fernando Angleu Teixeira) and a maximum of two members elected by the general assembly on a proposal from the City Council.
Currently, the 17-member executive body of the Lisbon Chamber is composed of seven elected members of the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Alliance), who are the only ones with assigned responsibilities and who govern without absolute majority – three from PS, two from PCP, three from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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