Municipal deputies from the group Citizens for Lisbon (CPL) demanded on Tuesday that the mayor be summoned to the 6th Committee of the Municipal Assembly to clarify the issue of the suspension of the mandate of Councilor Diogo Moura (CDS-PP).
Unregistered municipal deputy Daniela Serraglia of the CPL, permanent member of the Commission for Human and Social Rights, Citizenship, Transparency and Anti-Corruption, voiced this request at the plenary session of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly during the discussion of the 2023 executive reports. .
“We have a councilor whose mandate is suspended,” said Daniela Serraglia, adding that she asked that Mayor Carlos Moedas and Councilor for Transparency and Corruption Prevention Joana Almeida be heard in the sixth standing committee “because Transparency in relations with the city must correspond to the reports, it is not enough just to appear as such.”
In a note, CPL explained that the hearing is aimed at “understanding not only this suspension of the mandate, but also what will happen to current obligations,” who “will take on the respective responsibilities, for how long, and what their obligations to the city are.”
In a written statement sent to Lusa on Sunday, the mayor of Lisbon announced that cultural councilor Diogo Moura had suspended his mandate at his request after accusing the Public Ministry (MP) of fraud in internal elections. SDU-PP.
The Social Democratic mayor explained that “despite the charges brought against him [a Diogo Moura] do not report to the person in charge as a councillor,” he believed that “the councilor does not have the conditions to continue to develop his work for the benefit of the people of Lisbon.”
Diogo Moura was accused by a deputy of fraud in two internal Christian Democrats elections.
Municipal deputy Carlos Reis of the PSD believes that Diogo Moura has done a “remarkable job in the field of culture, economics and innovation”, highlighting the character of the mayor and his work first as a municipal deputy and then as a councilor.
The Social Democrat spoke out “against all tobacco trials,” emphasizing that Diogo Moura “was not tried” and, without naming names, accused the PS and Bloco de Esquerda (BE) of “hypocrisy” in relation to other cases.
Socialist Manuel Lage responded that his party believes in the “principle of the presumption of innocence” and that Diogo Moura “has been an example” in the current executive, but said he understands the problem with its continuation, taking into account the responsibility for carrying out the electoral process in the city of Lisbon.
According to the vice-president of the municipality, Filipe Anacoreta Correia (CDS-PP), “the president of the chamber kept his word” by asking Diogo Moura to suspend his mandate due to suspicions, and praised the commitment and work of the former city councilor.
Municipal deputy Bruno Mascarenhas from Chega pointed the finger at the PS and BE, which he had never seen, “referring to the Tutti Fruti case”, due to suspicions of economic and financial crimes related to the hiring of personnel and direct remuneration. services to companies associated or controlled by political leaders, from the PSD, but also from the PS.
Following the deputy’s accusations, both BE and PS already said on Friday that Diogo Moura cannot continue to work and that President Carlos Moedas must “be consistent” with the statements he has already made regarding mayors suspected of crimes.
Prosecutors charged Diogo Moura, 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), As reported Thursday by CNN Portugal on Friday.
According to the channel, Diogo Moura “knew that the secretary of the Lisbon district was at the polling station and sent him several messages asking him to add votes from activists who did not show up to the polling station.”
However, “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 Investigations and Criminal Punishments) in Lisbon. .
In a written note sent to Lusa on Sunday, Diogo Moura said the “nature of the process” in which he is accused of fraud in the party’s internal elections “is an unfounded personal attack.”
The centrist mayor stressed that the process “has nothing to do with his duties as a councilor or with the decisions of the council.”
Diogo Moura claims he is “absolutely innocent” and guarantees he will prove it.
The executive body of the Lisbon Chamber, consisting of 17 members, includes seven elected members of the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Alliance) – the only ones with responsibilities and who govern without an absolute majority – three from the PS, two from PCP, three from Cidadaãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.