“It was obviously a mistake, a mistake that costs us every year a deficit between what the state delivers to the municipal council and what the council spends, rightly so, because we were not going to leave our children, our young people without the minimum, and therefore we have to have more than the minimum and, for that reason, we invest in education, but it is a role that belongs to the central government, which should pass that money to us but does not,” stated Carlos Moedas (PSD), during the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (AML) meeting.
The mayor spoke during the presentation of the municipal executive’s work over the past two months, between April and May, where he took the opportunity to review the 2021-2025 mandate and responded to various questions from the deputies.
The issue of decentralization of competencies was raised by PEV deputy Cláudia Madeira, who questioned the planned works for the Vasco da Gama Basic School and considered the process of transferring educational competencies from the central state to municipal councils “a mistake.”
Agreeing with PEV, the PSD mayor noted that the decentralization of education “did not go well” regarding the transfer of funds and considered this process “a way for the central state to pass costs onto the municipal councils.”
“That is why I have never accepted decentralization in the health area, unless there is a guarantee from the Government that such decentralization has very clear rules about what I will spend and what the State will transfer to me. It has to be exactly the same amount, otherwise it makes no sense,” explained Carlos Moedas.
Both PCP and PS questioned the council about the necessary school renovations, while IL argued that the Ministry of Education must “once and for all, unlock funds” for the Lisbon municipality.
The transfer of competencies to mainland municipalities in 22 areas, including education, health, social action, and culture, began in 2019, but the process faced various setbacks, with municipalities considering the funds transferred by the Government insufficient.
In July 2022, the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities and the Government signed an agreement on the areas of education and health, updating the funds and terms for the decentralization of these competencies.
During the AML meeting, deputies from PCP, PAN, and Citizens for Lisbon (elected by the PS/Livre coalition) accused the mayor of “attacking democracy and freedom of expression” for removing political propaganda posters and replacing them with JCDecaux advertising, claiming “this action is illegal,” according to the National Election Commission (CNE).
Carlos Moedas emphasized that Lisbon residents support the removal of political propaganda posters on main avenues, noting they constituted “visual pollution,” and stated that during this mandate, the number of advertisements in the city decreased “by 58%,” while also acknowledging the presence of institutional information on the executive’s work.
Unanimously, the AML approved motions of condolence from PEV, PCP, PS, and BE for the death of photographer Eduardo Gageiro, from PEV for the passing of writer Armindo Reis, and from PS for the death of writer and researcher Teresa Rita Lopes.
