The President of the Republic Cavaco Silva canceled his visit to Portimão on December 2nd, where he would open the XIII Congress of the National Association of Parishes (ANAFRE).
The cancellation just a week before the scheduled date caused a lot of surprise in the national leadership of ANAFRE, especially because, the day before the arrival of Cavaco Silva was cancelled, the security services of the Presidency of the Republic had even been at Portimão Arena a assess the space.
Meanwhile, the vice-president of the Assembly of the Republic Teresa Caeiro will preside over the solemn opening session of the congress, which will take place at Portimão Arena, at 15 pm on the next Friday.
The presence of the Head of State at the congress was eagerly awaited, at a time when parishes are under fire, with the predicted extinction of parishes enshrined in the «Green Book of Local Administration Reform» presented by the government of Pedro Passos Coelho .
In the Algarve alone, and according to the first version of the «Green Book», 20 parishes were expected to disappear, while that number could reach 1000 to 1500 parishes throughout the country.
The theme of this national Congress, which is taking place for the first time in the Algarve, and which brings 1700 participants to Portimão, is precisely the role of parishes in the reform of the State, which in recent times has been the subject of great political debate at national level.
Last June, the General Council of ANAFRE unanimously approved a motion rejecting "frontally, the construction of the fallacious judgment that extinguishing, merging or aggregating Parishes contributes to a greater rationalization of financial resources and sanitation of national public expenditure."
In the Algarve, the first version of the “Green Book of Local Administration Reform” foresaw the extinction of the parishes of Carvoeiro, Ferragudo, Parchal (Lagoa), Quarteira (Loulé), Monte Gordo (Vila Real de Santo António), as well as four parishes in Lagos (Barão de São João, Luz, Santa Maria and São Sebastião), three from Faro (São Pedro, Montenegro and Conceição), three from Olhão (Olhão, Fuseta and Pechão), two from Albufeira (Guia and Olhos de Água), as well as one from Alcoutim (Pereiro), Aljezur (Bordeira) and Vila do Bispo (Barão of Saint Michael).
However, a revision of the Green Book allowed the maintenance of the parishes of Carvoeiro, Ferragudo, Parchal, Quarteira and Monte Gordo, although the rest remain under threat.
However, if the criterion that establishes a parish in level 3 municipalities is applied, there are three more parishes in the Algarve at “risk”, that is, those of municipalities that have more than one parish in the municipality's seat. These are the cases of São Sebastião and São Clemente (Loulé), Santiago and Santa Maria (Tavira) and Raposeira and Vila do Bispo (Vila do Bispo).
At the opening of the previous ANAFRE Congress, in January 2010, the President of the Republic Cavaco Silva had warned that “your voice will be listened to with even greater attention throughout the country if the initiative for a serious reflection on the issue of dimension of parishes and, perhaps, on the convenience of its redimensioning and territorial reorganization».
The Head of State then proposed a deep and well-founded reflection on the role, dimensions and social and economic characteristics of the different parishes, recalling that some are depopulated while others have XNUMX inhabitants.
In the document that serves as the basis for the discussion that will take place at the Congress, on the theme «The Parishes in the State Reform», it can be read that «the Parishes, shaken by this debate, affirmed to reject that it is centered on mere economic issues , remembering that the real weight of these autarchies in public expenditure is irrelevant to the national whole».
Because, «co-responsible for the democratization of the country, contributing with their work to social cohesion, to economic development, to the sustainability of the territory and to the dynamization and civic participation of citizens, Parishes only participate in 0,10 % of the State Budget. On the other hand, they are not responsible for any public indebtedness'.
The document also emphasizes that «the Parishes are the first port of refuge for those whom society treats as stepmothers and, in rural areas, the first and last point of contact with the State».
In addition, «the work of its Elects is carried out on a quasi-voluntary basis, as 90% of these Mayors are allocated only a small contribution towards the expenses and costs of their activity and only 10% of the most populous Parishes have an administrator politician with monthly remuneration'.
In such a way that, «in the staff of the 4.259 Parishes, there are only 8.000 workers and, for the most part, there are no employees. All the work is carried out, graciously, by the respective Local Elects».
"For this reason and because there is no need for a chain of command required at other levels of public administration, the activity carried out by Parishes has a return on investment of one in four, as a result of the evaluation of a "case study", promoted, at national level, by a Portuguese university».
For this reason, ANAFRE considers it important to introduce into the debate on State Reform «analysis factors that contribute to a more sustained reflection, remembering that Parishes develop actions of their own competence and shared with Municipalities in various fields».
“It must not be forgotten that the principle of specialization is a factor in competitiveness.
Parishes, either because of their proximity or because of their size, are better able to exercise competences that, located at another level of public administration, do not have the same degree of efficiency but certainly have higher costs", adds ANAFRE .
PROGRAM
Friday
Day 2 | December | 2011
10h Opening of the Secretariat
Accreditation of Delegates and Delivery of Documentation
14h Accommodation of Delegates
15:00 pm Solemn Opening Session
Musical Moment “Pequenos Sulistas” from the Conservatory of Portimão Joly Braga Santos
Chairman of the Board of the XIII National Congress of ANAFRE, José Rosa do Egypt
President of the Board of Directors of ANAFRE, Armando Vieira
Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic, Teresa Caeiro
16h Ratification of the Regulation of the XIII ANAFRE Congress
Consideration of the Activity Report of the Board of Directors – 2010/2011 biennium
Presentation: Cândido Moreira, Vice-President of the Board of Directors
17h Consideration, debate and voting on the proposed Amendment to ANAFRE's Bylaws
Presentation: Elisabete Matos, Vice-President of the Board of Directors
18h Beginning of the debate on the document «The Parishes in the State Reform»
Presentation: Armando Vieira, President of the Board of Directors
Until 20:00 Delivery of Motions to the Congress Table
20h Dinner (free)
21h Continuation of the debate on the document «The Parishes in the State Reform»
Saturday
Day 3 | December | 2011
09h Restart of Work
Presentation and debate of the Motions to the Congress
11h Voting on Congressional Motions
12h Presentation and voting of the Strategy Motion of the XIII National Congress of ANAFRE
Presentation: Paulo Quaresma, Vice President of the Board of Directors
13:00 Solemn Closing Session
Chairman of the Board of the National Congress of ANAFRE, José Rosa from Egypt
President of the Board of Directors of ANAFRE, Armando Vieira
His Excellency the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Miguel Relvas
13h End of the XIII National Congress of ANAFRE
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