Rosa Palma took office this Monday, the 18th, for her third and last term as mayor of Silves, the only municipality in the Algarve where the CDU is in power. However, the communist mayor will not have an easy life, since, in a turnaround that was already expected, the PS ended up with the presidency and the place of 2nd secretary of the Municipal Assembly table, giving the PSD a place of 1st secretary.
Let's go by parts: in the Local Elections of 23 September, the most voted force for the Municipal Assembly was the CDU, which elected 10 of its representatives to this body, as many as PSD and PS together, who elected 5 each. Chega still managed to secure 1 place.
But the president of the Municipal Assembly (AM) does not result from the direct vote of the population (unlike what happens for the Chamber), since the presidents of the Boards also have a seat in this body, by inherent functions and with the right to vote. of Parish. And it was here that the CDU was plotted: it is that, of the six parishes in the municipality of Silves, only two are in the hands of the communists. Three of them have PSD presidents and the remaining sixth parish belongs to the PS.
Thus, in the 1st session of AM Silvense, which followed the swearing in of all those elected to the Chamber and to the Assembly, the CDU was of no use, through the mouth of its municipal deputy Bruno Pereira until it tried to see a list accepted. of consensus for the table, with representatives of the three most voted forces: Débora Quaresma, from the CDU, as president, one element from the PSD for 1st secretary and another from the PS for 2nd secretary.
The Social Democrats, through the mouth of José Pedro Soares, and the Socialists, through Ana Belchior Ferreira, refused. The element of Chega said that… he had nothing to say.
As such a consensus list was not possible, the CDU presented its own candidacy, with Débora Quaresma, Pedro Santos and Olga Fernandes, the list A.
The PSD said it did not have its own list to present, but the socialists put forward a candidacy with Ana Belchior Ferreira (PS) as president, Rui Paulino (PSD) as 1st secretary and Fátima Matos (PS) as 2nd secretary (List B). It was the realization of the alliance between social democrats and socialists that had been talked about for a few days.
After the vote, the list B won, as expected, with 15 votes in favor (11 of the municipal deputies of the PSD, PS and Chega, plus 4 of the social-democratic and socialist parishes), against the 12 of List A ( 10 votes from those elected from the CDU and two from the parishes under communist management).
In the end, the newly elected president of the Municipal Assembly, socialist Ana Belchior Ferreira, speaking to the audience, defended that “in Democracy these things can happen”, if there is not an absolute majority.
"It is true that we were not the most voted list, but in Democracy things can happen this way," he added, recalling that "in previous terms, identical situations have already occurred." Therefore, he stressed: "nothing new so far!"
The new AM president also stressed that, «for the exercise of democracy, this is the solution that best serves the interests of the population, because the rigor, criteria and responsibility of the functions exercised by different political forces in the various municipal bodies tend to be more transparent and more demanding”.
The CDU, despite conforming to the results of the vote – after all, all of the AM's operating rules were complied with -, did not fail to present its protest, through the mouth of Bruno Pereira.
"This election of the Assembly's table is a good example of why there is a distancing of people from politics", since, he recalled, the CDU even elected "double the representatives of the two democratic parties, the PS and the PSD ». Therefore, concluded the communist municipal deputy, "the will of the people was not respected."
Bruno Pereira has not yet overlooked a somewhat unusual aspect of the composition of the winning list. The presidency of AM and a place of 2nd secretary went to the PS, which was only the 3rd most voted force for the Assembly in the elections of 23 September, while the PSD, which was the 2nd most voted force, was content with a single place at the table.
"The PS, being the third most voted force, preferred to ally itself with the right, with the PSD abdicating its own presidency of the Assembly's table, even though it was, of the two forces, the most voted", highlighted Bruno Pereira.
The result of all this: Rosa Palma's executive will have to learn to work with a Municipal Assembly that is not favorable to him and that may hinder some of the president's projects and proposals.
In her inaugural speech, the communist mayor began by quoting the poet Manuel Neto dos Santos, then stressing that «everything flows to make the council we love and where we live in an even better council», «an open and participatory municipality, that bets in the populations, who have confidence and hope for the future».
In what will be her "last term", Rosa Palma said that "municipal life is also made up of feelings, surrender, passion, sometimes indignation, but always, always, with an open heart, with honesty and with humility" . "Our mission is to leave roots for the future and establish bonds that consolidate them," he added.
Therefore, in this mandate from 2021 to 2025, the mayor of Silves promised "more public work for the benefit of the population", a "strong dynamic in taking advantage of the opportunity to access financing" in all areas.
It is because, he guaranteed, his Municipality has «a portfolio of projects that allows us to immediately access the financing of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), a fact that happened, and to access the current and the new community framework».
As a "strategic purpose" of his mandate, he presented the intention to "develop municipal policies to combat climate change, promote energy and water efficiency, housing and social support, citizen safety, accessibility and road safety, animal protection, and administrative modernization and digitization of public services'.
But Rosa Palma did not forget the two major structural projects in which the Municipality of Silves is involved, together with neighboring municipalities.
«As an integral element, since the beginning, of the driving force of the pioneering and innovative project for the creation of the first Marine Natural Park of Recife do Algarve – Pedra do Valado», the mayor guaranteed that her executive will fight «for his implementation, with the Government, as a condition for safeguarding biodiversity and the sustainability of the local economy, namely the preservation and defense of artisanal fishing and the attribution of better working conditions and profitability for fishermen in Armação de Pêra».
But also «as an integral element, from the outset, in the Algarvensis Geopark project», together with the municipalities of Loulé and Albufeira, «we will fight for its recognition as a Unesco Geopark and for its role as a promoter of the multifaceted development of the territory”, he guaranteed.
The mayor of Silves also stated that it is "fundamental to continue to attract private investment, an area where we have been successful", in order to contribute to job creation.
And he guaranteed that he will “insist with the Government to carry out fundamental projects for the development of our territory, examples of which are the silting of the Arade River, the construction of the Regional Prison Facility in Portela de Messines and the requalification of the EN124, between Silves and Port of Lagos».
But he stressed that he will also “continue to fight against the process of transferring burdens from central administration to local administration, which is not being conducted in the best way and which could harm the populations and our ability to intervene in solving local problems. ».
In a speech marked by some emotion when referring to the family (which was in the audience), the Mayor Rosa Palma ended with the poem “Wisdom” by Mia Couto, who “shares with me her taste and training in Biology”.
The ceremony for the installation of the new municipal bodies of the municipality of Silves took place in the open air, in the square in front of the Town Hall, against the backdrop of the Town Hall, Porta da Almedina and part of the castle walls. Two young saxophonists from the Sociedade Filarmónica Silvense helped to compose the environment.
WISDOM
It's not enough for me to be:
I want to overflow everything,
the dismay
that every margin does not know.
It's not enough for me to live:
I want to be inhabited
by whom fate disobeys.
It's not enough for me to live:
I want life like a fever,
love like fire and water.
In the end, you will know:
what is loved does not return.
what is lived
Do not start.
And the dream
never in a hurry.of Mia Couto
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
Taking office of Silves Local Authorities
Joao Garcia (PSD)
Luiza Conduto Luís (CDU)
Luis Guerreiro (PS)
Maxime Bishop (CDU)
Luis Guia (PSD)
Tiago Raposo (CDU)
Jose Pedro Soares (PSD)
Ana Belchior Ferreira (PS), elected president
Antonio Mealha (CDU)
Bruno Pereira (CDU)
Luis Reis (PSD)
Joao Palma dos Santos (PS)
Gabriela Brigida (CDU)
Joao Varela dos Santos (CDU)
Sara Luz (PSD)
Cesar Neves (PS)
Peter Santos (CDU)
Tieres Neves (Enough)
Rui Paulino (PSD), elected 1st secretary
Fátima Matos (PS), elected 2nd secretary
Warrior Rose (CDU)
Joao Brito (CDU)
Ana Tomas (PSD)
Mario Oliveira (PS)
Pedro Andrade (CDU)
Olga Fernandes (CDU)
(also with seat, inherently, in AM)
Carla Benedito (CDU), JF São Bartolomeu de Messines
Luís Cabrita (PSD), JF São Marcos da Serra
Tito Coelho (CDU), JF Silves
Roberto Cabrita (PS), UF Alcantarilha and Pêra
Sérgio Antão (PSD), UF Algoz and Tunes
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