“During the election campaign, it is important to keep bringing to the political agenda issues that are crucial for the decentralized and deconcentrated functioning of the state,” stated Luísa Salgueiro to Lusa.
In her opinion, these two issues, for which the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) works and strives, should not be forgotten.
Another central topic, according to her, is the new Local Finance Law, which should be prepared to take effect next year, almost coinciding with the next municipal term.
“Our expectation was that the executives elected in September or October could already prepare their budgets based on new rules, but clearly that will not be possible since even the working group has yet to be formed,” the Socialist party member highlighted.
Luísa Salgueiro, who also presides over the Matosinhos City Council in the Porto district, hopes that the environmental sector will not be overlooked, particularly issues such as waste management, low-voltage energy distribution, water, and the transfer of roads to municipalities.
These issues, she noted, are essential not only for the municipalities but also for the populations and the country, where existing asymmetries cannot, in her view, continue to be exacerbated.
“We need to advance with effective territorial cohesion policies, and undoubtedly the role of municipalities is essential,” she emphasized.
In addition to unsorted waste, glass, paper, and packaging, municipalities are required to carry out selective collection of bio-waste, textiles, furniture, and bulky objects. However, according to the ANMP, the lack of funding is delaying the system, meaning that Portugal is far from meeting European recycling targets.
In the water sector, municipalities are also facing significant challenges. The outgoing government altered the Strategic Plan for Water Supply and Management of Wastewater and Stormwater (Pensaarp) 2030, estimating total investment needs in this sector at 5.5 billion euros, with 50% of this amount allocated to infrastructure rehabilitation, much of which depends on municipal services.
In the energy field, new concessions for low-voltage electricity distribution are being negotiated with municipal participation. This model was supposed to be presented in January, but the government postponed it for a year, which the ANMP claims does not benefit the municipalities and populations, but the concessionaire.
Regarding the planned transfer of road management responsibilities to municipalities, the ANMP gave a “clearly unfavorable” opinion on a recently approved government decree that allows the transfer of sections of national and regional roads to city councils, provided they “fully and definitively” waive financial resources for their maintenance.
As the election campaign kicks off on Sunday, Salgueiro insisted that it should be enlightening so that people understand the various proposals of political parties.
“I hope it will not be a campaign marked by populism and xenophobic and homophobic speeches, and above all that there will be truth and clarity,” she expressed.
As a member of the Socialist Party, Luísa Salgueiro hopes that under the leadership of Pedro Nuno Santos, the PS would win the legislative elections and that the PSD would offer the party the same governance conditions that, she believes, were given by the Socialists on various occasions.
At the start of the legislative term, she pointed out, it was the PS that facilitated the election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, as well as enabled the approval of the State Budget and rejected two motions of no confidence.
“Therefore, the PS has often demonstrated democratic maturity and the importance of having conditions for governance and stability. For this reason, I hope that in the next legislative session, the PSD will do the same and allow the PS to govern,” she concluded.
