There are seven candidacies for the Câmara de Lagoa, in the Local Elections of the next 26th of September, with the particularity that there are even two heads of list who come from the same political area and may steal votes from each other, opening the door to possible surprises.
Thus, PS candidate Luís Encarnação, a banker by profession, who, despite being the president of the Lagoon Chamber, is the first time that he presents himself as head of the list at the Autárquicas.
The fact is that Luís Encarnação was the vice-president of the autarchy, when the nurse Francisco Malveiro Martins, then president, resigned from his position, alleging health reasons (but we'll be back there soon). Living up to the socialists' rule of running for presidents in office, Encarnação faces the ballot box for the first time as head of the list.
As main opponent there is… the former mayor Francisco Martins, who had dismissed from office in July 2019.
Martins now emerges as the leader of a so-called independent movement, which joins many former socialists in its ranks. The first candidate for the Municipal Assembly, for example, is Alves Pinto, engineer, former professor and who, by the PS, was head of the list defeated in previous local elections.
When he resigned from the presidency of the municipality, Francisco Martins claimed health reasons, but it became known that, above all, he wanted to be a candidate for deputy for the Algarve, in an eligible position, which he failed to achieve.
Later, it would be compensated with a place like advisor to the then Secretary of State for Health, the Algarve Jamila Madeira.
When it left the Government, in August of last year, Francisco Martins was appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve, position that still holds today.
Last year, when the moves for the choice of candidates for the municipal authorities began, Martins tried to be the head of the list for the socialists again, but this claim was rejected, as it is the rule to re-candidate the incumbent presidents.
In view of this, Francisco Malveiro Martins ended up apply for a movement without party support. Curious is that this is not the first time that he has changed sides. The fact is that the now leader of the Lagoa Primeira Movement had already been elected councilor on the PSD lists, when the social democrat José Inácio Marques Eduardo won the autarchy. He then performed functions as Councilor for Culture, having been one of the fathers of Jazz nas Fontes, a highly successful cultural initiative.
But Francisco Martins came to disagree with José Inácio and, in the following elections, in 2009, he ran for the Parish Council of Lagoa, but for the PS, and won. It was here that his political journey linked to the socialists began, now in rupture.
Who can take advantage of an eventual split in the PS's traditional electorate is the PSD candidate for the Chamber, Mário Vieira, who is currently councilor. Lagoa was once a council governed by the Social Democrats – with Jacinto Correia, Joaquim Piscarreta and José Inácio – and the PSD hopes to recover this Chamber.
To further shuffle the bills, there is the expectation of what might happen with the Enough's application, which is led by Hernâni Sousa, commercial manager.
There are still three more candidacies for the Câmara de Lagoa: Vítor Carapinha, for the CDU, Andreia Pais, for the Left Block, and Luis Dinis Barroso, for the Liberal Initiative (IL).
The party led by João Cotrim Figueiredo, by the way, only runs for the Chamber, not presenting lists to any of the other bodies.
For the Municipal Assembly, the socialists once again present, as head of the list, José Águas da Cruz, a respected and popular lawyer from Lagos. The PSD bets on a heavyweight: former mayor José Inácio Marques Eduardo. As for the Lagoa First Movement, as already mentioned, candidate José Alves Pinto.
Chega presents Professor Lurdes Alemão, for the Left Block, Jorge Ramos and CDU Carlota Andrade competes.
As for the Parish Assemblies, which are currently all presided over by the PS, the socialists are again betting on the same names – Joaquim João Paulo in Lagoa and Carvoeiro, Joaquim Varela in Parchal and Estômbar, and Luís Bentes in Porches.
The only exception is Ferragudo, where Luís Veríssimo does not re-candidate, once again being head of the list Luís Alberto, who had already been president of this Board for three consecutive terms and has great municipal experience.
As for the other political forces, in the Parish of Parchal and Estômbar, the Lagoa Movement is the first candidate for Clemente Bentes Camarinha, the PSD presents Eduardo Ferreira, BE João Martins, Chega Bruno Silva Inácio and CDU Nelson Fernandes.
In the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro, Elisa Rafael is the candidate of the Left Block, Luís Tito (who was a councilor) represents the PSD, Paulo Bernardo is the candidate for the Lagoa Primeira Movement, Miguel Florindo for the Chega and João Cabrita for the CDU .
In Ferragudo, in addition to the return of Luís Alberto (PS), the candidates are Pedro Cardoso (Lagoa Primeira Movement), João Rodrigues (PSD) and Helder Almeida CDU.
Neither the Left Block nor the Chega (nor IL, as we have seen) are candidates for the Parish of Ferragudo or Porches.
Thus, in Porches, present themselves Manuel Gomes Peres (CDU), Ana Rita Bôto (PSD), and Pedro Fernandes da Silva (Movimento Lagoa Primeira), as well as Luís Bentes (PS), the current president.
In 2017, 9.270 people voted in the municipality of Lagoa, out of a universe of 18.793 subscribers, which corresponds to 49,33% of the total (abstention was 50,67%).
The PS won with an absolute majority (61%), electing 5 of the 7 councilors, followed by the PSD (23,45%, 2 councilors), Left Block (4,96%), CDU (4,08) and CDS+MPT +PPM (2,56%).
Comments