Lisbon City Council (CML) cultural councilor Diogo Moura suspended his mandate at the request of Mayor Carlos Moedas, days after he was accused of fraud in CDS-PP internal elections.
CML President Carlos Moedas (PSD), in a written statement sent to Lusa, says that he asked Diogo Moura “to suspend his mandate and he immediately agreed to this request.”
Diogo Moura (CDS-PP) was accused by the Ministry of State (MP) of fraud in two internal Christian Democrats elections.
In a note sent this Sunday to Luza, Carlos Moedas explains that “despite the accusations against him [a Diogo Moura] do not report to the person in charge as a councilor,” he believes, “the councilor has no conditions to continue to develop his work for the benefit of the people of Lisbon.”
The mayor praises Diogo Moura’s “excellent work, commitment and dedication” over the past two and a half years as councilor “in areas such as innovation, economics and culture.”
Prosecutors charged Diogo Moura, who is also vice-president of the CDS-PP, with “two crimes of aggravated electoral fraud” for allegedly trying to manipulate the votes of activists in two electoral acts (2019 and 2021). .). CNN Portugal reported this on Thursday.
According to this TV channel, Diogo Moura “knew that the secretary of the Lisbon district was at the polling station and sent her several messages asking her to put in the ballot boxes the votes from activists who did not show up at the polling station.” .
However, according to CNN Portugal, “the district secretary never complied with the requests” and the case was eventually reported and investigated by the PSP, with the centrist mayor now officially charged by the 4th Division of the DIAP (Department of Investigation and Criminal Affairs) Lisbon.
However, on Thursday, in response to CNN Portugal, Diogo Moura said he was never “convicted” or “tried”, “not even convicted”, insisting that he is “absolutely innocent”.
On Friday, the PS and Bloc Esquerda defended the sacking of Diogo Moura.
The Lisbon Council of the PS recalled in a statement sent to Lusa that “on April 24, 2021, in an interview with Público, Carlos Moedas guaranteed that as mayor he would never work directly with him, a councilor under suspicion in any case.”
“None of this is happening now, with formal prosecution, which is a test of the word of Carlos Moedas,” the Socialists said in the note.
The PS party, which has three elected members in the Lisbon Chamber, demanded the immediate removal of Diogo Moura “from coordinating electoral actions in the municipality.”
The Bloc de Esquerda, also in a note sent to Lusa, also considered that Diogo Moura “does not have the conditions to retain political functions in the municipality of Lisbon,” calling on Carlos Moedas to replace the mayor in this post.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal

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