During the campaign for the October 12 elections in the Horta Nova neighborhood, Carnide parish, residents voiced numerous criticisms against Gebalis, the public company managing Lisbon’s municipal housing.
“It’s a forgotten and abandoned neighborhood,” they told Alexandra Leitão, who acknowledged “a great need for rehabilitation […], especially of common areas, but also many things inside the houses.”
For example, she noted, “the elevators are a recurring problem, very often out of order, almost imprisoning people on higher floors who have difficulty going up and down.”
This is the case of Anunciação Lopes’s sister, who requires two firefighters to leave her house because the elevator is broken.
“Today a gentleman showed up, maybe they discovered you were coming,” she quipped.
Upon arriving at the neighborhood, the socialist leading the coalition of PS, Livre, BE, and PAN focused on animal welfare, a key point of the coalition not just because PAN is part of it, she emphasized.
With two cats at home, she spent considerable time visiting the SOS Animal association, feeling so comfortable that a member of her entourage confidently suggested visiting there before the next municipal budget approval.
Holding a small cat waiting for adoption, Alexandra Leitão listened to veterinarian Sandra Duarte Cardoso recount the scenario when she settled in the neighborhood 13 years ago.
“There were hundreds of animals on the street. There was a lot of violence against animals because there were so many that people associated them with garbage and dirt, so there were poisonings, kicks at any animal, dead pigeons everywhere,” reported the SOS Animal president.
After the association’s efforts, Horta Nova is today “a different neighborhood” from the animals’ perspective.
“We started collecting cats, sterilizing, doing the same with sick pigeons, raising awareness among children, who became our allies,” she noted, advocating for “more projects like these.”
Upon leaving, Alexandra Leitão stated that the treatment of animals “is a civilizational issue” and agreed more support for the associations that host them is needed.
When questioned by journalists, Alexandra Leitão played down an ICS/ISCTE poll for Expresso and SIC released Wednesday, showing her tied with Carlos Moedas, the current mayor seeking re-election through the “Por ti, Lisboa” coalition, which includes PSD, CDS-PP, and IL.
“Polls are polls,” she dismissed, saying she would “continue to work.”
Nevertheless, she derived “one conclusion”: “a clear bipolarization,” showing that “it is the ‘Viver Lisboa’ coalition that could be an alternative” to Carlos Moedas’s governance, who, she reiterated, has not released his electoral program by the day of the last debate among all candidates (today, at 22:00 on RTP).
Running for Lisbon City Hall in the upcoming local elections are Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), Alexandra Leitão (PS/Livre/BE/PAN), João Ferreira (CDU-PCP/PEV), Bruno Mascarenhas (Chega), Ossanda Líber (Nova Direita), José Almeida (Volt), Adelaide Ferreira (ADN), Tomaz Ponce Dentinho (PPM/PTP), and Luís Mendes (RIR).
The current municipal executive consists of seven elected from the ‘Novos Tempos’ coalition – PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança, seven from the ‘Mais Lisboa’ coalition – PS/Livre, two from CDU (PCP/PEV), and one from BE.
