Transfer of powers was "a mistake"

The Mayor of Lisbon considered this Tuesday “a mistake” the transfer of powers in education to the municipality, as the central State does not ensure adequate funds, a reason that justifies the refusal to decentralize health.

“It was obviously a mistake, a mistake that costs us every year a deficit between what the State gives to the city council and what the city council spends, and rightly so, because we were not going to leave our children and young people without the minimum, and therefore we have to have more than the minimum and, therefore, we invest in education, but this is a role that belongs to the central government, which should give us this money and it does not do so ”, stated Carlos Moedas (PSD), at the meeting of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (AML). The mayor was speaking as part of the presentation of the work of the municipal executive over the last two months, between April and May, in which he took the opportunity to take stock of the 2021-2025 term, and answered several questions from the deputies .

The issue of decentralization of powers was raised by PEV deputy Cláudia Madeira , who asked about the works planned for the Vasco da Gama Elementary School and considered the process of transferring powers in the area of ​​education from the central government to the municipal councils to be “a mistake”. Agreeing with the PEV, the PSD mayor said that the decentralization of education “did not go well” in terms of the transfer of funds and considered that this process “was a way for the Central Government to transfer funds to the municipal councils and no longer have to incur this cost” .

“That is why I have never accepted decentralisation in the health sector, unless I have a guarantee from the Government that this decentralisation has very clear rules on 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. The PCP and PS also questioned the council about works in schools that are in need, while the IL argued that the Ministry of Education must, “once and for all, release the funds” to be allocated to the municipality of Lisbon.

The transfer of powers to mainland municipalities in 22 areas, including education, health, social action and culture, began in 2019, but the completion of the process faced several setbacks, as the funds transferred by the Government were considered insufficient by the municipalities.

In July 2022, the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities and the Government signed an agreement on the areas of education and health, which updated the funds and terms under which these competences are decentralized.

At the AML meeting, the deputies from the PCP, PAN and Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition) accused the mayor of “attacking democracy and freedom of expression” by removing political propaganda posters and replacing them with JCDecaux advertising, stating that “this action is illegal”, according to the National Elections Commission (CNE).

Carlos Moedas reinforced that Lisbon residents support the removal of political propaganda posters on the main avenues, stating that they constituted “visual pollution”, and stated that during this term the number of advertisements in the city had decreased “by 58%”, acknowledging that there is also institutional information about the work of the executive.

Unanimously, the AML approved votes of condolence from the PEV, PCP, PS and BE for the death of photographer Eduardo Gageiro, from the PEV for the death of writer Armindo Reis and from the PS for the death of writer and researcher Teresa Rita Lopes.