A postman who has already represented Portugal in the Olympic Games, three businessmen, an accountant and an engineer are the candidates that six political forces will present to the Chamber of Olhão, at the Municipal Councils on the 26th, to try to prevent the reelection of the current mayor and break the hegemony of the PS, which has governed this municipality since the first democratic elections, in 1976.
António Pina, who has chaired the Chamber since 2013, is seeking re-election for a third and final term.
The trained economist, despite still being young, is a career politician. He was only 30 years old, when he was elected councilor, on the list of Francisco Leal, of which he was vice president, in the following term (2009/13).
In 2013, and after having won an internal dispute at PS Olhão with Custódio Moreno (current regional director of the IPDJ, who came from several consecutive terms as president of the Junta de Pechão), António Pina ran and won the municipal elections, but did not get an absolute majority.
During a mandate in which, due to circumstances, a lot of diplomacy and some concessions were necessary, António Pina was once again contested, internally, this time by Luciano Jesus, at the time president of the Junta de Olhão, elected by the PS. The battle was won by the mayor, with the support of the party's regional federation.
Luciano Jesus left the PS and accepted the support of the PSD and the CDS-PP, as well as from other parties, to run for the municipality, in 2017, against his former comrade.
And if, during the campaign, there were high expectations about the capacity of the now Social-Democratic candidate to dispute the municipality, at the polls, António Pina's victory was overwhelming, with the PS guaranteeing more than half of the votes and 5 of the 7 places of council.
Four years later, the PSD, which together with the MPT and the PPM forms the Olhão para Todos coalition, proposes Álvaro Viegas, a well-known businessman and former president of ACRAL – Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region, to try to achieve more than two councilors who guaranteed in 2017.
With Álvaro Viegas, a consensual and respected figure in his field, the Social Democrats and their allies – who, unlike what happened four years ago, do not include the CDS-PP – want to try something they never achieved or even came close to achieving. : conquer the presidency of this socialist bastion.
In fact, the history of local elections in this municipality tells us that the PS, when it loses votes, loses them to left-wing parties, namely the CDU and, more recently, to the Left Bloc. Suffice it to say that since April 25, the PSD has never won more than 30% of the vote.
In 2017, the third most voted force was the Left Block, which, even so, could not keep the councilor it had elected in the two previous municipal councils.
This year, the chosen candidate is Roberto Silva, an entrepreneur in the field of office supplies and information technology and a degree in Languages and Communication from the University of Algarve.
The CDU, which was 4th, but very close to BE, chose a former Olympic athlete as a candidate. Jorge Costa, marcher who represented the national colors at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, is the face of the communists, in the assault on the Chamber of Olhão.
A postman by profession, the CDU candidate is also a leader of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Workers and a member of the PCP's Olhão Municipal Commission. In 2014, he was a member of the executive of the Junta de Quelfes, for whose Parish Assembly he was elected.
In this year's elections, the CDS-PP presents itself to votes alone and has as its candidate Ana Paula Artur, an accountant graduated in management from the University of Algarve.
There are still two political forces that will make their debut, PAN and CHEGA.
PAN's candidate is the Environmental Engineer Alexandre Pereira.
CHEGA presents the votes of António Moreira, a businessman with business in the tourist entertainment and accommodation sector, graduated in Tourism from the University of Algarve.
In the dispute for the Municipal Assembly, there are still more candidates, eight in all.
The current president of this body, lawyer António Cabrita, returns to the top of the PS list, which also won the majority in this body in 2017.
The Olhão para Todos coalition is headed by Eduardo Abúndio de Sousa, who was the PSD's candidate for the Chamber in 2009, the Left Bloc Marco Rojo Matos and CDU Florbela Gonçalves.
They also head the candidate lists for the Municipal Assembly of Olhão Victor Brito (CDS-PP), Alexandre Pereira (PAN), Vítor da Ponte (CHEGA) and António Brito Pina (Liberal Initiative).
In the parishes, the fight in Olhão stands out, where the current president João Evaristo is not running again, to join the PS list for the Chamber, in an eligible place.
The Socialists chose to run for Rui Gabriel, who will face at the polls Cláudia Sofia de Sousa (Olhão for All), Ricardo Martins (CDU), João da Marta (CHEGA), Verónica Moreira (BE), Manuel Vitório (CDS-PP) and Alexandra Rosa (PAN).
In Pechão, Paulo Salero, from the PS, re-applies for the position he now occupies. Carlos do Carmo (CDU), Cláudia Silva (BE), Fábio Faria (CHEGA) and Miguel Serra (Olhão para Todos) are also candidates for this autarchy.
Also in Quelfes there is a socialist president who is re-candidate, in this case, Miguel Dimas. Going forward will be Gabriela da Silva (CDS-PP), Fernando dos Santos (PAN), Dário Pereira (Liberal Initiative), Ivo Conceição (BE), Eduardo Palminha (Olhão for All), José do Vale (CDU) and Mohammed Fayese Bayzid (HE ARRIVES).
In the municipality of Olhão, the only “spot” on the map that is not “pink” is the Union of Parishes of Moncarapacho and Fuzeta, where the president is Manuel Carlos, elected by a PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM coalition and that it re-applies with the support of Olhão para Todos.
At the polls, he will face Roberto Marques (BE), José Marto (CDS-PP), Feliciano Raposo (CDU), Ana Machado (CHEGA) and João Eusébio (PS).
In 2017, the PS won the race for the Chamber with 51,75% of the votes (5 terms), followed by the PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM coalition, with 26,05% (2 terms). Four years ago, BE (7,95%), CDU (7,89%) and the independent movement Olhão pelo Cidadão, led by Rui Santos (1,97%), also voted.
Four years ago, 16.505 people voted in the municipality of Olhão, out of a universe of 37.558 subscribers, which corresponds to 43,95% of the total (abstention was 56,05%).
Comments