A public apology at the time of Local Elections is not usual, but that is what happened in Loulé. The work of Circular Norte has not even started, but the controversy is advanced, with the debate involving PS, PSD and Left Block. Only, after the accusations, the socialists decided to apologize to the blocistas, due to "a confusion".
It all started in the PS de Loulé hosts. On Saturday morning, 31st of July, this political party made a statement in which it accused the PSD and Bloco of voting, in the Municipal Assembly (AM), «against the proposal to approve the land evaluation reports referring to the 2nd phase of the contract. of construction of the Northern Circular'.
The alleged position did not even prevent the documents from being approved, since the PS has a majority in the AM, but it did not fail to motivate complaints from the socialists.
«Despite publicly proclaiming that they are defenders of the construction of the Northern Circular, one thing is clear: whenever this matter has been submitted to a vote in the Municipal Assembly, those parties have voted against, so one thing is certain…in the PSD and BE , words do not match deeds».
The strong accusations motivated, on the same day, a reaction from Tiago Grosso, municipal deputy of the Bloc and candidate for president of the Chamber.
«The Left Bloc vehemently repudiates this type of behavior, but unfortunately, this is what is happening right now by the Loulé municipal government and the PS Loulé political commission, when they claim that the Left Bloc voted against the proposal of the municipal executive in relation to Circular Norte», says a publication by the candidate.
And if the BE guarantees that it voted in favour, in the Municipal Assembly, the Social Democrats do not reject that they actually voted against, presenting their arguments.
«The PSD Loulé cannot condone the “messy” that the socialists are resorting to to justify eight years of mandate in the City Council, without advancing projects and infrastructure, which are so lacking in the development of the municipality», wrote the force policy led by Rui Cristina (also PSD candidate for the Chamber), in a statement sent to newsrooms.
The Social Democrats accuse the PS of inertia, since "after eight straight years of municipal governance with an absolute majority", the Northern Circular "is still not completed".
The PSD added that “it was never opposed to the construction of the circular, but voted against the alteration of the project that forced Loulés to pay the total cost of the work, when financing had already been negotiated with the Central Government, in terms of consideration for the construction of the Cortelha sanitary landfill».
In addition, the oranges they also explain that they do not agree with the fact that the project has abandoned the idea of four tracks, now contemplating only two.
So far, you might think it's politics at work: accusations on the one hand, responses on the other, but this is a story with a less common side.
Returning to the Left Block, candidate Tiago Grosso considered that an "immediate public apology" should be made by Vítor Aleixo, since BE voted in favor of the Municipal Assembly.
And, on the part of the socialists… the apology arrived this Monday, August 2nd.
“PS Loulé publicly apologizes to BE for, in a statement dated 31 July, having attributed to that party force a negative vote that did not actually happen. In fact, having been the meeting by videoconference, with part of the municipal deputies participating remotely, the confusion generated regarding the tabulation of votes was understandable and involuntary”, it reads.
In the same communiqué, the party that heads the Loulé Chamber takes the opportunity to "extol the change of position" of the Left Bloc which, in September 2017, voted, like the PSD, against "an agreement of dominion mutation between Loulé City Council and Infrastructures of Portugal (IP) which paved the way for the completion of this structuring work for the municipality».
And what about the contract for the Circular North itself, which is expected to connect the Barreiras Brancas roundabout to that of the Municipal Pavilion? There has been an open competition since the 9th of July, but the work has not yet started.
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