“Municipalities are the level of power closest to the people, the first door to knock on, the first hope to rely on, the primary driver of development and progress in our communities. Portugal needs a new pact between the Government and local administration,” he advocated.
At the closing session of the XXVII Congress of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP), held this weekend in Viana do Castelo, Pedro Pimpão took the opportunity to urge Prime Minister Luís Montenegro to regard the association as a main strategic partner: “a demanding and determined strategic partner in building a more cohesive, modern, and fairer country.”
“We will work with your excellency and the government members with responsibility, institutional loyalty, and future vision. However, always in unwavering defense of the Portuguese municipalities, pillars of proximity democracy and development of our territories,” he emphasized.
In his view, only stronger municipalities can make Portugal grow and progress.
“Dear colleagues mayors from across the country, when asked, as I have been asked several times, whose side we are on, we answer unequivocally: we are where we have always been, on the side of the people and on the side of Portugal,” he stated.
Throughout his speech, the mayor of Pombal (Leiria district) also stressed that the ANMP is a national and unifying project.
“The ANMP belongs to all those who, with their passion, work daily for their communities. It is this plurality that sustains our institutional strength and our reason for being. The ANMP is a plural and nonpartisan institution, free, open to all ideological spectrums, and based on an essential conviction. Municipalism belongs to the real country,” he said.
Pimpão reminded that ANMP includes mayors from the mainland: from the coast and the interior; from large metropolitan areas and low-density areas; but also from autonomous regions.
“Our strength is this diversity that does not divide but enriches. A unity that does not demand uniformity, nor unanimity, but demands commitment and responsibility,” he asserted.
The new president of the ANMP reiterated that they aim for a more cohesive, modern, and truly decentralized country, as well as a new Local Finance Law by 2027 and responsible decentralization with guaranteed financing.
