“I will present a proposal for a summit of local power,” involving the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) and the National Association of Parishes (Anafre) to align positions on local power, stated Fernando Santos Pereira to the Lusa agency.
At the end of the V Congress of ANAM, held in Lamego (Viseu), where the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim, was present, the new president of ANAM stated, “It is important for local power to have its representatives, but where there is convergence, it can have a voice,” anticipating that strengthening relations with ANMP and Anafre “will certainly happen in the future.”
The congress was attended by 150 people, with Fernando Santos Pereira’s single list gathering near unanimity, receiving votes from 90 of the 93 delegates.
Fernando Santos Pereira, elected for a four-year term, mentioned that one of the fundamental areas he plans to focus on is “more towards the interior of ANAM, and the preparation, valorization, and dignification of local elected officials and municipal assemblies.”
Another area of intervention is the emphasis on “the centrality of Municipal Assemblies at the municipal level.”
“Executive decisions, the governance of the municipality, come at the hands of municipal councils, and the councils go before municipal assemblies to approve their structural documents,” he noted, highlighting that without municipal assembly approval, councils are “tied.”
“Therefore, this centrality of Municipal Assemblies is fundamental at the local power level, because they constitute a true school of democracy, a true civic school, where, besides the Council and parish presidents, citizens’ voices also have a place,” he emphasized.
Furthermore, one of Fernando Santos Pereira’s “fundamental objectives” is “the recognition of ANAM as an institutional partner, as a social partner, to be involved in decisions about local power and municipal assemblies.”
For this leader, it makes no sense for debates, for example, in parliament, regarding municipal assembly-related laws, to occur without ANAM being consulted or “invited to provide input on them,” he argued.
ANAM will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2026 and has 216 members.
The outgoing president of ANAM, Albino Almeida, who served two terms, pointed out that the eight-year record is “visible.”
“Ten years ago, when we started, we had no ministers, no secretaries of State, no women, it was almost all men, no young people,” he declared, emphasizing that “many young people will be in municipal assemblies,” which is the “best guarantee that ANAM is on the right track.”
When asked about what he would have liked to achieve but did not, he mentioned the valorization of municipal assemblies, noting that this requires “political power support.”
“The great regret I take is the unavailability of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities to make a joint path with ANAM, as both represent two bodies of the municipalities,” he added, noting that ANMP did not respond to ANAM’s invitations.
The former president of the Municipal Assembly of Gaia observed that “a road is always composed of two directions,” considering that ANMP’s path “was always blocked” for unknown reasons but believes “they will be clarified and overcome in the future.”
