The Municipal Assembly of Tavira approved by majority, on the 28th of September, «a vote of opposition to the legal union, or alteration of the territorial limits of any Parishes of the Municipality of Tavira, which will inevitably translate into its concrete extinction».
The Municipal Assembly (AM) in Tavirense demands “to the political parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic to reject with their vote projects that specifically aim at the liquidation of Parishes, preserving and valuing in concrete local identity, proximity to populations, development and territorial cohesion”.
AM also intends to "demand the strengthening of local autonomy and the allocation of adequate means to the local authorities, so that they can better serve the populations", as well as "demand the defense and enhancement of the Democratic Local Power, in compliance with the established principles in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, as an essential factor for local development, combating inequalities and asymmetries and defending national cohesion».
This resolution approved by AM de Tavira will be made known to the President of the Republic, President of the Assembly of the Republic, Prime Minister, M Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Presidents of the Municipal Council of Tavira and the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, Municipal Councils and Assemblies of the Algarve and Parliamentary Groups of the Assembly of the Republic.
In their position, the Tavirense municipal deputies begin by considering that «the parishes of the municipality of Tavira have an important historical, heritage and cultural value, which in the case of the parishes of Cachopo and Santiago surpasses the municipality's own historical and territorial dimension, as well as an economic, social and cultural activity essential for the life and sustainable development of its populations».
«The reality with which we are confronted means that we cannot remain silent in the face of the so-called RATA [Autarchic Territorial Administrative Reorganization], because this is based on artificially created criteria, ruler and square, on purely economic interests, and ignores history, experience and the tradition of each local community, denying the population centuries of history of its existence».
AM even considers that «no local elected official has legitimacy to decide on the extinction, merger or union of Parishes, especially considering that no party or candidate, during the last municipal elections, entered in its program the intention to eliminate or merge any parishes of Tavira».
That municipal body also recalls that «numerous Parish Assemblies, Municipal Chambers and Assemblies and the Algarve Intermunicipal Assembly have already demonstrated against the extinction of Parishes».
In these terms, and in the specific case of the Municipality of Tavira, «we consider it unacceptable for the Municipal Assembly or any other municipal body to pronounce itself in a disinterested manner or in favor of the announced claims. It must, on the contrary, manifest itself unequivocally against the aggregation, extinction, merger, liquidation or union of any of its nine Parishes».
In defense of its rejection position, AM stresses that «the fires that profoundly affected the socioeconomic structure of the mountainous interior of our county, namely in the parishes of Cachopo, Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, Santa Maria and Santo Estêvão, proved their role. irreplaceable of Parishes and local elected representatives in supporting populations, either during their occurrence, either in the aftermath phase, or in the following days, functioning as interlocutors of the deconcentrated services of the Public Administration, often dependent on Lisbon and with insufficient means for the good performance of its functions and fulfillment of its mission».
On the contrary, «the intervention of Parishes and local elected representatives proved to be decisive in saving lives and protecting the most valuable heritage, in a permanent and relevant interaction with other Civil Protection agents in the theater of operations, culminating in the total absence of dead or seriously injured and with a small number of permanent homes destroyed, given the size and duration of the fires».
Here is the deliberation of AM de Tavira, in full:
«MUNICIPALITY OF TAVIRA REJECTS UNION OF PARISHES
Law No. 22/2012, of May 30, which provides for the Municipal Territorial Administrative Reorganization (RATA), approved in the Assembly of the Republic with the favorable votes of the PPD/PSD and CDS/PP, points to the extinction of hundreds of parishes, which, if applied, represents a serious attack against the Local Democratic Power, the interests of the populations and local development.
In the current configuration, Local Power is an integral part of the democratic regime that saw its essential principles enshrined in the 1976 Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, both in terms of its relationship with the central power – administrative decentralization, financial and management autonomy, recognition of heritage and its own finances and regulatory power – whether in terms of its democratic dimension – plural and collegial, with a broad popular participation, representing the interests and aspirations of the populations.
The affirmation of Local Power and the profound social transformations brought about by its intervention in improving the population's living conditions and overcoming enormous needs are inseparable from the profoundly democratic characteristics and its popular dynamics. electoral adhesion deserved.
The parishes are not, admittedly, a significant financial weight, representing very little in terms of the State Budget – 0,1% of the total expenditure – contributing nothing either to public expenditure or to the national debt. as the municipalities, entities to be preserved and removed from imposed marginal interventions.
The administrative reorganization of the territory must be objectively supported on technical, social, demographic, economic and historical grounds, and must be preceded by a broad public debate with interested populations and involve the entire structure of the constitutionally foreseen decentralized administration, and never be carried out under external pressure and from a mere perspective of budgetary convenience.
RATA's main purpose, the liquidation of hundreds of parishes is part of the ongoing offensive aimed at the abusive centralization of political decisions, subversion of Local Government
democracy and the more general attack against the rights and interests of workers and populations, a reason that justifies the struggle in defense of parishes and municipalities.
However, Law No. 22/2012 is not, in itself, synonymous with the extinction of parishes, nor is any parish automatically liquidated with its publication. Its extinction will require the concrete approval in the Assembly of the Republic of the laws, strictly law by law, defining a new administrative division in the councils that may come to be covered. This issue, in addition to its legal and procedural dimension, contains a political element of enormous scope: that of specifically requiring that there be parties in the Assembly of the Republic that, on a case-by-case basis, have to assume the burden of associating this initiative with the liquidation in the concrete of each of the parishes in presence.
Thus, the “invitation” that the law makes to municipal bodies to become involved in the liquidation of Parishes can be seen. An attitude that, if adopted, transfers the political burden from the majority parties to the local authorities, freeing them from the responsibility of showing their face by direct initiative for the extinction decision, or of “union of parishes” as they try to make up this attack, at the same time which gives the main promoters of this offensive the argument that they limited themselves to respecting and giving expression to the will of the local authorities.
Whereas:
The parishes of the municipality of Tavira have an important historical, heritage and cultural value, which in the case of the parishes of Cachopo and Santiago go beyond the municipality's own historical and territorial dimension, as well as an essential economic, social and cultural activity for life and development of their populations.
The reality with which we are confronted means that we cannot remain silent in the face of the so-called RATA, because it is based on criteria artificially created by ruler and square, on merely economic interests, and ignores the history, experience and tradition of each local community , denying the population centuries of history of its existence.
No local elected official has the legitimacy to decide on the extinction, merger or union of Parishes, especially given that no party or candidate, during the last local elections, entered into its program the intention to eliminate or merge any parishes in Tavira.
Numerous Parish Assemblies, Municipal Chambers and Assemblies and the Algarve Intermunicipal Assembly have already demonstrated against the extinction of Parishes.
In these terms, and in the specific case of the Municipality of Tavira, we consider it unacceptable for the Municipal Assembly or any other municipal body to pronounce itself in a disinterested manner or in favor of the announced claims. On the contrary, it must manifest itself unequivocally against the aggregation, extinction, merger, liquidation or union of any of its nine Parishes.
The fires that profoundly affected the socioeconomic structure of the mountainous interior of our county, namely the parishes of Cachopo, Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, Santa Maria and Santo Estevão, proved the irreplaceable role of Parishes and local elected representatives in supporting the populations, either during its occurrence, either in the aftermath phase or in the following days, functioning as interlocutors of the deconcentrated services of the Public Administration, often dependent on Lisbon and with insufficient means for the good performance of their functions and fulfillment of their mission.
On the contrary, the intervention of Parishes and local elected representatives proved to be decisive in saving lives and protecting the most valuable heritage, in a permanent and relevant interaction with other Civil Protection agents in the theater of operations, culminating in the total absence of deaths or seriously injured and with a small number of permanent homes destroyed, given the size and duration of the fires.
In this sense, by taking a position contrary to the Legal Regime of Municipal Territorial Administrative Reorganization, approved by Law No. 22/2012, the Municipal Assembly of Tavira, meeting on September 28, 2012 resolved to MAY:
1. Approve a vote in opposition to the legal union, or change the territorial limits of any Parishes in the Municipality of Tavira, which will inevitably translate into its actual extinction.
2. Demand to the political parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic to reject with their vote projects that specifically aim at the liquidation of Parishes, preserving and valuing in concrete local identity, proximity to populations, development and territorial cohesion.
3. Demand the reinforcement of local autonomy and the allocation of adequate means to the municipalities, so that they can better serve the populations.
4. Demand the defense and enhancement of Democratic Local Power, in compliance with the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, as an essential factor for local development, combating inequalities and asymmetries and defending national cohesion.
5. Notify the President of the Republic, President of the Assembly of the Republic, Prime Minister, Deputy Minister and Parliamentary Affairs, Presidents of the Municipality of Tavira and the Intermunicipal Community of Algarve, Municipal Chambers and Assemblies of the Algarve and Parliamentary Groups of the Assembly of the Republic.
The President of the Municipal Assembly
José Otilio Pires Bahia»
Comments