José Estevens, candidate for the Chamber of Castro Marim, accuses his competitor Francisco Amaral, president of the municipality, of having tried to challenge his candidacy for the Municipal Elections, in an attitude that "reflects his character well".
The mayor confirms that he made an "application" to the Court of the District of Vila Real de Santo António for alleged irregularities, which ended up "not granting him", but says he is not "concerned with complaints".
Ao Sul Informação, Francisco Amaral argued that "the law says that people, when they sign an independent candidacy, must be aware of the candidates and that did not happen." This is because "in the header of the collection of signatures, the law requires that you have a list of candidates", he explained.
Hence the complaint made, but the truth is that it ended up being rejected, something that Amaral, candidate on the Castro Marim Mais Humano list, “does not dispute”.
On the other side of the barricade, the candidacy of José Estevens (Castro Marim Primeira) is justified by saying that «collected three times more signatures than those determined by the electoral law, thus supporting the hundred candidates of the Castro Marim First Movement to the Municipalities of the municipality: Municipal Assembly, Municipal Council and Parish Assemblies of Altura, Azinhal, Castro Marim and Odeleite».
As for this controversy, Estevens' accusations are strong: «with intelligence and justice, the people of Castro Marim can now assess the conduct of the mayor/doctor who wanted to narrow down democracy and curb the freedom of choice of citizens in the municipality of Castro Marim in the next elections authorities'.
«To the sad and bad figure of the mayor, doctor and Commander of the Portuguese Republic Francisco Amaral, the Court responded firmly, rejecting the objection claim for lack of foundation. This rude and clumsy attitude of the most senior mayor in office reflects well his character and the lack of democratic quality to which is added a false humanism that he preaches so much», he adds, in a statement.
The mayor of Castro Marim defends himself saying that there are issues “much more worrying for Castro Marim”. «What I want is to work for the people of Castro. I'm not worried about complaints," he added, in statements to our newspaper.
According to Francisco Amaral, José Estevens' candidacy also made complaints about alleged irregularities of the Castro Marim Mais Humano coalition. In one of them, made to the National Elections Commission (CNE), the Estevens movement said “that I could not publish on my page Facebook things from the town hall. Of course the CNE sent that to the hollyhocks», revealed Amaral.
According to José Estevens, Francisco Amaral paid "the costs for the incident caused with the presentation of the request to contest the candidacies of the Castro Marim Primeiro Movement", something that the current mayor "does not confirm or deny".
The controversy between candidates the Castro Marim autarchy has been taking place for some time and led Estevens to disassociate himself from being a PSD militant, when he was formerly president of the Chamber of Castro Marim elected by the Social Democrats.
All because the National Political Commission of PSD supports Amaral's (re)candidacy for the Castromarinense autarchy.
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