On Tuesday, Livre approved a proposal to amend the state budget, providing for measures to protect and promote the Mirandese language and the creation of a “own organic unit” for a total amount of up to 100,000 euros.
The proposal, submitted by Livre’s sole deputy Rui Tavaris and approved by the Committee on Budget and Finance in Parliament, provides that during the next year the government “after a consultation process involving the municipality of Miranda do Douro, the Association de la Lhéngua i Cultura Mirandesa and schools teaching Mirandese dialect, define and implement strategies to protect and promote Mirandese as a living language, contributing to the creation of its own organic unit”.
The initiative, written in Portuguese and Mirandese, was approved point by point and approved by all parties, with the exception of the Liberal Initiative, which abstained.
The item providing for the allocation of specific budgetary allocations from the budget to finance these activities in the amount of up to 100 thousand euros, deserved the abstention of the “Liberal Initiative” and the PSD, and the rest voted “yes”.
In the text, Livre believes that Mirandese is “a national treasure that is important to nurture and preserve” and refers to the fact that “despite all efforts, Mirandese is under serious threat and there is a risk that after 2032, when 150 years have passed since the day Leyte de Vasconcelos announced the existence of the Mirandese language on a national scale, it is no longer a widely spoken language.
Thus, the only deputy declares that “it is necessary to create an institution of public law, an institution with a specific budget provided for 2023 and subsequent years.”
“The scope and powers of this institution should include the definition and implementation of strategies for the protection and promotion of the Mirandese language, as well as the implementation of the measures taken by Portugal when signing the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, including the study, collection and documentation of the Mirandese language and its history, actions for the regular and periodic teaching of the Mirandese language, actions for the current and everyday use of the language, the publication of original works and works translated into Mirandese, an increase in the popularization and promotion of the Mirandese language, among other things,” lists Rui Tavares in the proposal.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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