António Nunes led the sole candidacy for the leadership of the League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP), for which 445 delegates voted on Saturday during the meeting held in Alcobaça, district of Leiria.
The list headed by António Nunes received 311 votes (79%), with 93 blank votes recorded, according to results provided by the congress chairman, Luis Gil Barreiros.
The elected executive council also includes, as vice-presidents, Carlos Santos (from Dafundo firefighters), Marco Martins (Óbidos), Emanuel Santos (Ermesinde), Eduardo Correia (South and Southeast), and Rui Silva (Cascais).
The action plan endorsed by the delegates includes nine guiding lines proposed by António Nunes’s list, aiming for “a comprehensive review of the operational model and a new organizational structure.”
The goals set by the new leadership include revising the legal framework governing the firefighter sector (with the approval of firefighter statutes) and the revision of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority’s (ANEPC) organic law, including the creation of an operational structure for firefighters, namely a national firefighting command and centralized coordination centers.
Relating to this issue, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced on Saturday, the first day of the congress, that within the framework of ANEPC’s organizational reorganization, an operational command will be established “with two components: the essential civil protection aspect and a command aspect at the firefighting level for operational management.”
The new leadership’s objectives also include addressing the employment framework of volunteer firefighters, integrating permanent intervention teams (EIP) into humanitarian associations; discussing multi-year contracts for financial support to firefighter associations; adjusting funding for activities related to health, pre-hospital emergency, and non-urgent patient transportation.
The action plan also focuses on enhancing the qualifications of these professionals, creating a higher academy for firefighters, and establishing LBP as a representative organization of the sector among partners and political authorities.
António Nunes, former inspector-general of ASAE (Authority for Food and Economic Safety), has presided over LBP since 2021, succeeding Jaime Marta Soares.
