Carlos Moedas responded to the Socialist Party’s intention to legally challenge the new regulations of the Lisbon City Council approved on Wednesday, with votes from the PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership and Chega, amidst criticism from left-wing parties regarding a “democratic setback”.
“I would only have one word regarding this. I think political parties must accept democracy, accept the electoral result we had in Lisbon, accept that I am the mayor of Lisbon, and, above all, accept what are the legal partners of the City Council itself, its staff, and its jurists,” stated Carlos Moedas.
Following the approval of the Lisbon City Council’s Regulations proposal, a document defining the operation of the municipality’s executive body, the Socialist Party emphasized that it represents “a serious setback and a clear attack on pluralism and the democratic functioning of the municipal body” and considered legally challenging the new regulations.
Carlos Moedas noted that what was presented “is a reality in many other city councils,” highlighting that he is “a consensus president” and that council meetings “will always be that [of consensus].”
“I have had meetings of 10 hours, 15 hours, and therefore if I resisted, I will continue to resist all this formal part of politics. But my aim is mainly the substantial part of politics, which is being with people and therefore, I would like council meetings to be more efficient, more effective and not hours and hours and hours,” he stressed.
Carlos Moedas recognized that the PS might take “more time or not” to accept the political project chosen by the voters, adding that it is “quite normal at the beginning for there to be this nervousness,” emphasizing that what worries him is the non-acceptance of the electoral result by the socialists.
“I have been mayor for four years, we have another four years ahead and I always feel on the PS side that there is a great difficulty in accepting this,” he stated, reminding that he is always “with open arms for dialogue,” highlighting that there are “four years with many decisions to make and very important ones.”
Regarding the fact that the Regulations were approved with Chega’s support, Carlos Moedas said he saw both the PCP and Bloc “dialoguing with Chega,” stressing that at the beginning of the meeting those trying “in some way to influence the vote of those councilors was not the coalition, it was the other parties in that dialogue.”
Carlos Moedas reiterated that this dialogue “is normal” and must occur in any council, respecting “democracy and the elected of democracy,” and that “each person votes in conscience and each councilor votes in that conscience.”
On Wednesday, in a private meeting of the municipal executive, the regulation proposal faced opposition from all councilors from leftist political forces, notably PS, Livre, BE, and PCP, according to official sources from the municipality.
The PS stated that the document, approved with votes in favor from the PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership and Chega, “reduces opposition rights, limits transparency and weakens the oversight of the executive, contradicting the spirit of the law and good democratic coexistence practices.”
In the current mandate, the social-democrat Carlos Moedas governs in minority, with eight elected officials from the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition, falling one short of achieving an absolute majority, which would require the election of nine out of the 17 members composing the capital’s executive. The opposition consists of four councilors from PS, one from Livre, one from BE, two from Chega, and one from PCP.
