The government dissolved the board of directors of the Administrative Modernization Agency (AMA), chaired by João Dias, accusing it of failing to fulfill a number of obligations, and appointed a new team to be headed by Sofia Mota.
According to Observador, the Ministry of Youth and Modernization of Margarida Balseiro Lopez has chosen Sofia Mota, until now director of TicAPP – Center for Digital Competences of Public Administration, to head the AMA, who will take office this Thursday.
The dismissal of João Dias, who has already admitted that he challenged the decision, and member of parliament Elsa Castro, according to the Observador, is based, among other complaints, on the “failure to achieve 70% of goals and milestones.” set out in the 2023 Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PRR), particularly the opening of new shops and public spaces, which will potentially impact disbursement targets planned for 2026.”
The government’s justification is that the AMA Board of Directors is also responsible for “non-compliance with other activities provided for in the 2023 Performance Plan (which would be higher than what would have happened if the previous oversight, already in control, had not approved the changes for a number of indicators at the end of 2023).”
The executive branch also justifies, according to the Observer, “harmful human resource management, which has led to the departure of nearly 80 employees from the AMA, some of whom hold senior positions with direct influence on the organization,” as well as a “lack of coordination with the organization’s leadership.” oversight of public interventions and institutional representation.”
“The controversy regarding the launch and implementation of the National Smart Area Strategy, which has sparked protests over the lack of participation of municipalities and the centralized way of its implementation by the AMA,” is another of the reasons cited by the AMA. government.
In a message to Diário de Notícias, representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Modernization said that “during the mandate of this Board of Directors, a number of commitments and responsibilities crucial to the work of the AMA have not been fulfilled,” making it “necessary to issue new instructions to management.” Therefore, the order to dissolve the Board of Directors was signed today. [quarta-feira]”.
In turn, in a statement to the Eco newspaper, João Dias admitted that he had challenged his dismissal through legal means.
“I am considering taking all necessary measures to protect my honor and good name as a public administrator, including resorting to legal proceedings,” said the ECO manager.
João Dias said he was “surprised by the minister’s behavior”, given that “the AMA board of directors had only two meetings with the minister, lasting five minutes each.”
“Since this government took office, I had a meeting with the minister that lasted less than five minutes and she said she would make a serious request for information within a certain time frame. We completed the requested request within the required time frame and had no further contact. Meanwhile, the minister scheduled a meeting at the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, which took place this Tuesday at 19:00 and which also lasted only five minutes, at which the minister announced the dismissal of the board of directors of the AMA,” he said.
Regarding the arguments put forward by the minister to justify the dismissal, João Dias said that the minister “does not have a strict enough view of the information” and “never raised doubts or asked the AMA for an explanation.”
“We never had the opportunity to contradict, we never had the opportunity to explain that some PRR targets were brought forward from 2022 to 2023, that citizen shops did not develop as planned because local authorities issued tenders for projects that remained abandoned and that in certain areas we acted as intermediaries and for this reason the implementation of certain programs depended on other organizations and other ministries,” he explained.
João Dias took office in January 2023 for a five-year term ending in 2028.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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