The Algarve is one of the five administrative regions proposed by the Independent Commission for Decentralization, in the report that was delivered this Tuesday to the Assembly of the Republic.
The commission, led by ex-minister João Cravinho, and which includes Adriano Pimpão from the Algarve, believes that it will be possible to move forward with the new administrative model as early as 2021, when local elections take place.
North, Centre, Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, Alentejo and Algarve are the five administrative regions proposed, coinciding with the current CCDRs and NUTS II map, and this is the only point open to discussion in a referendum.
The Independent Commission does not propose to take the decision on Regionalization to a referendum, as this is provided for in the Constitution, but rather on the map.
The report says the Commission is "aware that the proposed map, being the most appropriate and consensual, raises issues that should be taken into account and taken care of", such as "identity factors of a historical and cultural basis" and the balance between "interests and the priorities' of neighboring sub-regions.
However, in the Algarve, this is a peaceful issue. João Cravinho, in May, in statements to the Sul Informação, admitted that the Algarve is a region «with very specific characteristics», so that regionalization is seen with good eyes: «there are no map issues, you know where the Algarve ends and there is a historical identity. Then the distances are not great and there are no mountains to keep people away. There is a convergence and there are favorable conditions [for Regionalization to advance], without a doubt».
The report proposes the creation – and election – of a regional assembly, with deputies who do not hold office full-time. The president of the administrative region will not be elected directly, but by the members of the assembly.
When the Independent Commission came to the Algarve to hear the opinion of mayors, businessmen (and others) on the process of decentralization of competences and on the possible regionalization, the issue of creating more “pots” was raised at the hearing.
However, this idea was refuted by Jorge Botelho, president of AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve. The new entity “will have a technical framework, which need not be new. The technicians from the regional directorates will move to it».
“For every position created, there must be positions that have been terminated. Regionalization doesn't mean more employees, there doesn't have to be more positions. Quick and articulated responses are needed, which are not entangled in a cloak of bureaucracy. We will have a quick, competent response, complying with the law. These are the responsibilities that will then be evaluated in an electoral framework», he added.
The document, with more than 300 pages, also proposes the transfer of funds from the State Budget to the regions, and the creation of a public bank for regional development.
The Independent Technical Commission believes that, if there is political will, the proposed model could come into operation in two years' time. According to Público, the idea is that the referendum could be held in March 2021 and the first election of the assembly in October, simultaneously with the Municipal Elections.
PS Algarve was the first political force to react to the content of the report. In a note sent to the newsrooms, the Algarve socialists salute «the conclusions of the Independent Commission for Decentralization” and ask “the secretary general of the PS to assume this reform as an objective of the next Government of the Socialist Party”.
Remembering that the creation of administrative regions is a constitutional imperative, Luis Graça, deputy, president of the Municipal Assembly of Faro and the PS Algarve, considers that «the creation of intermediate levels of State administration should be taken on by the PS in the next political cycle as the natural and subsequent step after the decentralization process implemented in these four years by the Government of António Costa».
The creation of the Algarve Administrative Region is described by PS Algarve as “an identity and founding objective” of the party in the region and, therefore, the socialists see “with great political satisfaction the existence of a consensus within the Independent Commission for Decentralization , which brings together personalities from different political and party origins, on the creation of administrative regions, on the model and even on a timetable for its gradual implementation that we are following».
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