Marta Setúbal, 36 years old, born and residing in Vila Real de Santo António, is an architect and researcher. He studied in Lisbon and lived in Berlin for 11 years, and is now doing his PhD in Architecture of Contemporary Metropolitan Territories at ISCTE. He is also the head of the LIVRE list for the 30th January Legislative Elections, for the Algarve circle.
With this interview, the series of interviews that the Sul Informação is publishing, with all the heads of the list of all the political forces that are candidates for the constituency of the district of Faro.
To all, and in a logic of equal opportunities, the same questionnaire with 12 questions was sent, in a timely manner.
The answers are, of course, diverse, as will become clear over the next few days, with the publication of all the interviews.
Sul Informação – What are the priorities of your political force for the next legislature for the Algarve?
Marta Setúbal – Environmental/ecological sustainability: Fighting (and preparing the region for) water scarcity, deepened by climate change, and thinking about the territory in an integrated way.
Economic sustainability: Create economic diversity, promoting the local, solidary and collaborative economy and supporting the creation of cooperatives and companies with greater participation of workers in decisions, which guarantee ecological and sustainable development.
It is essential to break the dependence on tourism and seasonal unemployment, transforming the Algarve into a more economically resilient region.
Social sustainability: Ensuring decent housing capable of serving as a basis for a free life.
Plan a comprehensive and inclusive transport network, to allow access to Work, Health, Education and Culture, within the region and in connection with neighboring regions.
Thinking about basic needs in a logic of proximity.
SI – What led you to accept being the head of the list for the party or political force you represent?
MS – In LIVRE, the heads of the list are chosen through open primary elections, in which all members, supporters and sympathizers of the party can vote, instead of being nominated by the party leadership, as happens in other parties.
This is one of the ways in which LIVRE practices internally what it believes in, with the aim of bringing politics closer to people, encouraging them to participate in decision-making processes.
These elections took place unexpectedly and, with all the processes that exist within LIVRE (open primaries, a collaboratively constructed program, a mandatory pre-election congress to approve the program, etc.), a large part of the comrades from the Algarve decided, together , apply for the primaries, to show that the Algarve is very FREE, committing to accept the order chosen by those who voted.
I was in first place and, therefore, it fell to me to take on that role. There was no way not to accept it.
Any one of us would have done it, with the certainty of having the rest of the list to support us on a day-to-day basis until the elections – and beyond.
SI – What are the expectations and objectives of your political force in relation to these Legislative Elections?
MS – LIVRE wants these elections to be well attended, for people to understand that LIVRE is the truly sustainable alternative for society and – for this reason – to vote FREE.
With each crisis we go through, it becomes clearer that it is urgent to spread the message of the integrated development model that LIVRE defends: for a profoundly democratic, egalitarian and ecological society.
SI – What remains to be done in the Algarve?
MS – In the Algarve, the population needs to be activated for everyday civic participation. The population needs to be included in everything: in the decision-making processes, in the conceptualization, development and implementation phases of proposals and also in the enjoyment of the projects themselves.
On the one hand, seasonal work and the high concentration on tourism do not help this participation: in the summer, most workers are not available; cultural events are not only designed for tourists, but also take place when the local population is busier. This makes it difficult for the Algarve population to organize themselves regularly, to create associations and maintain them on a daily basis, because there comes a time of year when no one has time.
On the other hand, it is extremely necessary to combat the distance and disillusionment that most people feel in relation to politics and politicians.
In this, the parties bear the greatest responsibility: they are the main cause of this disillusionment.
LIVRE not only proposes to do politics in a different, transparent, shared and participatory way (away from tactics, politics and power games), but also internally practices this way of doing politics.
We bring our members and supporters closer to all decisions and open our documents, processes and meetings to everyone.
In addition, LIVRE presents, in its program, a whole chapter on Democracy, with a series of measures to deepen democracy and citizenship, and a whole other chapter on Combating Corruption: we believe that politics must be transparent and the information must be easily accessible to all citizens, so that they can scrutinize who they elect.
It is with more people and with more democracy that corruption and abuses of power are fought. Democracy and the Algarve only gain if the people of the Algarve participate more.
This is probably what is needed to move towards a region that is truly sustainable from all points of view.
SI – Health is a deficit sector in the Algarve and in the country. What measures do you recommend to solve the health problems in the Algarve?
MS – 1 – Giving attention to Mental Health: it is urgent, on the one hand, to implement the National Mental Health Program and it is urgent, on the other hand, to demystify mental illnesses and educate people on the importance of physical well-being and mental. We have to feel good about ourselves. Only then can we prosper.
2 – to promote closer and more humane Health, through a service that is less centralized and more spread throughout the territory, with good means of diagnosis, with an adequate response to urgent situations and that knows us and knows how to advise us.
3 – Health in everyday life: It is necessary to understand Health as something much more comprehensive than hospitals, health centers and the mere treatment of diseases.
It is necessary to prevent the onset of diseases and integrate health into the daily life of the population: to educate for health, to promote a good physical condition and a healthy diet, to work healthy, to have time to relax, to know people and places, to learn, to think... has implications for our health, both physical and mental.
4 – fill the lack of health professionals: It is necessary to dignify and promote the permanence of professionals in the National Health Service.
This can be done in many ways, namely by improving the contractual situation, but it is also essential to act on a more humane level, for example, favoring work in fixed and stable teams or implementing policies to prevent the mental health of healthcare professionals. health.
SI – And what about Hospital Central do Algarve? When should you move forward and why?
MS – Hospital Central do Algarve is part of a much broader network of SNS structures and these must be thought of together, in the most sustainable way.
Just as Proximity Health must be reinforced, so that bigger problems are avoided in time and so that there are not many trips to a central hospital, it is also important that this Central Hospital exists, because it will include functions that cannot be distributed throughout the region in a sustainable way.
It is therefore essential to plan as soon as possible the best way, the best place and the best time for the Hospital Central do Algarve, including in this planning the contributions of the entire community of SNS users: both users and health professionals. .
SI – The previous government advanced with the Decentralization of Competences to the Municipalities. What balance do you make of this process?
MS – As in most situations, the way in which the Decentralization of Competencies is carried out for the Municipalities and the specific circumstances of each Municipality is extremely relevant.
In some places, the process is still in its infancy and it is therefore difficult to assess whether the municipal organizational structure is capable of adapting in good time to the new responsibilities and whether there are, in fact, adequate funds for this.
For more stable municipalities, the decentralization of competences is an opportunity to demonstrate the ability to directly manage some of the most relevant structures for the population, namely education and health.
In principle, we must operate politically on the smallest scale capable of managing the public service effectively.
For this to happen in the best way, it is necessary to invest heavily in the training of local authorities and in the people who, on a day-to-day basis, deal with local problems and ensure that the municipality has the necessary funds for the proper management of what it assumes responsibility for. .
Decentralization must be seen from the perspective of a progressive delegation of powers to the most local levels and a strengthening of a democracy committed to promoting citizen participation.
SI – Should a future government move forward with Regionalization? Why or why not?
MS – Yes, without any doubt. It is a process that is in the Constitution and represents an intermediate decision scale, between the local municipal power and the national scope, which is extremely necessary for territorial cohesion.
This regional level must be voted on and scrutinized closely, allowing the population to approach the decisions taken at this scale, which are often ignored.
The CCDRs, which operate more or less at the scale of the proposed regions, have their representatives chosen exclusively by the mayors, leaving citizens out of this decision, giving rise to possible games of interests and – still – barring the participation of actors outside in the interests of the two central parties, which hold the presidencies of almost all the Municipal Chambers – being, therefore, the only ones to decide.
LIVRE proposes, in its program, “Regionalize with direct election, with the regionalization process being subject to a referendum” (proposal 18.7, chapter “Democracy”).
While the regionalization process does not advance, LIVRE proposes “Reorganize and coordinate the devolved services from the Coordination and Regional Development Commissions, integrating the functions they already hold today – regional planning, spatial planning, environment and management of structural funds – with those of education, culture and economy, including agriculture” (proposal 9.3, chapter “Territorial Cohesion, Transport and Mobility”).
SI – In the Assembly of the Republic, there have been resolutions to end tolls on Via do Infante or, at least, to introduce significant discounts. What do you think about this topic and what solutions do you recommend?
MS – There is the question, from the beginning, that the Via do Infante was built with European money and was not supposed to have tolls.
For those who move within the Algarve, it is difficult 1) not to have a car and 2) to have a car, not to use the Via do Infante, unless you have all the time to travel on the EN125, which has been getting slower and slower, precisely to channel traffic to Via do Infante, at the time free of charge.
Thoughts on mobility in the Algarve should not, however, be concentrated on the tolls on Via do Infante, but on the sustainable mobility system that we want for the region (including the connection with other regions of the country and also with Spain) and that includes a network of collective public transport and smooth individual transport.
It is also necessary to think about the use of the car and what we want from it, and the ideal would be to have a transport system so efficient and effective that it would make the use of the car unnecessary and even undesirable.
For this, it is essential to carry out the current project to modernize the Algarve Railway Line.
We know that this alone is not enough: as far as rail transport is concerned, this region has received very little attention from the central powers, reaching the point where it is faster to reach London by plane from Faro, than taking the route between Vila Real de Santo António and Lagos by train.
In the long term, the Algarve Line will have to receive not only the new trains, which have already been ordered, but the international connection to Seville will also have to be considered.
If we add to this the correction of part of the route, we can have time gains that make the train a means to take into account in the day to day of the Algarve, being naturally necessary the articulation with the different means of transport that already exist.
While we don't have it, Via do Infante should be free of tolls, at least for those who work and/or live in the Algarve, so as not to be unfair to people. However, it is a situation that will always have to be seen as temporary.
SI – At the beginning of the current pandemic crisis, the Government announced a specific plan for the Algarve, which never came to fruition. What does Algarve Tourism need to recover from the pandemic?
MS – The pandemic showed us – without any shadow of doubt! – that tourism, as it is practiced in the Algarve, is unsustainable.
Not only does Tourism have to become more sustainable in itself, but the economy of the Algarve, in general, has to stop depending on it alone.
In relation to Tourism, recovering from the pandemic has to be making Tourism more sustainable. And this does not mean limiting it to “nature tourism”.
It is necessary to rethink the whole logic of Tourism in the Algarve – and keep in mind that tourism is also changing in the world. Having an entire region dependent on a type of mass tourism, moreover concentrated in very few months of the year, is anything but sustainable.
Therefore, there are several possible lines of action: diversifying the type of tourism; spread tourism throughout the year; connect tourism a little more to local contexts; think of much more decentralized tourist structures, tending to be smaller and mixed with local communities, which can also benefit from these tourist structures; thinking about tourism in connection with culture and cultural heritage; leave the beach, towards the Barrocal or the Serra, each one with its specificities, etc…
The sooner we structure tourism in the region to be sustainable, the more resilient we will be in the event of a new pandemic or any other event that closes the region to the world.
But, above all, it is urgent to diversify the economy of the region, so that it does not depend exclusively on tourism!
LIVRE proposes, for this: to promote a local, solidary and collaborative economy, supporting the creation of cooperatives and companies self-managed by workers that guarantee ecological and sustainable development; promoting local commerce, applying a decentralized purchasing logic by the State, which must start buying in local markets; supporting socially-based economic development, creating in Portuguese legislation the concept and recognition of a social enterprise as one that aims to respond to a social and/or environmental problem; also supporting micro-entrepreneurship, through the creation of a lighter tax accounting regime, which allows micro-entrepreneurs to alleviate costs; finally, creating a large program of Business Training, focused on the various company staff, especially in executive and middle management.
Without adequate training, it is not possible to modernize the economy.
SI – In the case of more fractious issues, such as regionalization, tolls on Via do Infante and health, among others, if you are elected, will you vote for the AR according to your conviction, even if it goes against the guidelines of your party?
MS – No. The vote will be according to what the party decides. Now: decisions in LIVRE are taken by the group of people who make up the party and not by a direction.
This means that, in the event of these types of decisions, there is every opportunity to discuss the issue internally until the end.
On the other hand, LIVRE is also a party of science, seeking to inform its decisions in scientific studies.
The most coherent and scientifically supported answer will emerge from the party, as a collective.
In these cases, the comrades of the Algarve Territorial Nucleus are taken into great consideration in their explanation of these matters, since they are the people closest to the region and, therefore, they know it best.
If, even so, the party comes to the conclusion that the comrades from the Algarve are wrong, it will most likely be for reasons of a scientific nature.
In the case of the “fracturing” issues you mention, I don't think there is any difference between the party's position and my convictions.
Personally, I think that a person elected by LIVRE must assume his responsibility as a hinge between the party and the rest of society. She was elected by all members, supporters and sympathizers to represent the party.
In the case – very rare – of a divergence, the person representing the LIVRE must vote in accordance with the guidelines of that collective, being able to always make a declaration of vote saying that the vote does not represent their personal position.
SI – Do you want to add any more topics or questions?
MS – Yes. Since we are talking about elections, LIVRE proposes a reform of the electoral system, through the creation of a compensation circle, to make it more fair and effectively representative of the political diversity existing in the territory.
A party like LIVRE needs about three times more votes per elected deputy than parties like PS or PSD.
This happens because, in the smallest circles (Faro included), a large part of the votes is wasted (for example, the Portalegre constituency only elects 2 deputies: normally, 1 from the PS and 1 from the PSD; all votes in all other parties are not represented).
LIVRE thus proposes to gather the “wasted” votes from all constituencies in a big cake (called the Compensation Circle), so that these also translate into elected deputies.
To complete this measure, LIVRE also proposes that the lists presented by the parties be semi-open, giving voters the opportunity, when voting, to choose not only the party they want to represent them, but also the order of candidates on that list. .
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