The PS secured victory in the municipal elections on October 12, achieving 45.06% of the votes and capturing four of the seven seats on the municipal executive. Meanwhile, Chega (17.61%), CDU (17.04%), and PSD/CDS-PP (12.89%) each elected one councilor.
During the inauguration of the new elected officials of the Odemira City Council on Monday, it was Manuel Matias, second on the Chega list, who took the seat won by the party in this coastal Alentejo municipality.
Manuel Matias stated today that Chega’s candidacy in Odemira “was a team effort,” with the head of the list, businessman Rui Campos Silva, tasked with putting the municipality “at the center of investor interest.”
“Not having earned the trust of the people of Odemira to govern the municipality, Rui [Campos Silva] returned to the business world, where he is an excellent manager, and I took up the opposition, which is a more political and tougher ideological challenge,” Matias said.
According to Manuel Matias, this change does not represent “abandonment by anyone” in the party.
“It is about better operationalizing what the people of Odemira entrusted to us, namely, to be the main alternative to the socialist power currently leading Odemira,” he explained.
The resignation of Rui Campos Silva drew criticism from the local PS branch, which accused him of being a “parachute candidate” who “ultimately does not land in Odemira.”
In a statement sent today, the PS expressed that, in a party that declares in its political discourse a promise of change and a defense of a new way of doing politics, this decision raises legitimate doubts about its coherence and commitment to the electorate of Odemira.
The socialists argue that “this attitude constitutes disrespect for the democratic process and the citizens who participated consciously in the municipal elections, devaluing the principle of representation and the role of local institutions.”
“It is also noteworthy the lack of any public explanation from Chega, a particularly relevant situation considering it is a political force usually very active in public communication,” the statement reads.
