Vila Real de Santo António has just joined the National Association of Municipal Assemblies (ANAM), thus reinforcing its presence in the Algarve.
According to ANAM, 15 of the 16 municipalities in the Algarve region are already part of this association. Only Silves needs to do the full.
For ANAM, «the last two years have been marked by a strong growth that was notable not only in the number of new members, but also in terms of the number of legal advice consultations and requests for opinions».
Albino Almeida, president of ANAM, considers that «this growth is revealing of all the work that has been developed around the dignification of Municipal Assemblies, for the improvement of democracy in local power and for the elevation of democratic power in Portugal».
Evaluating the last two years, strongly marked by the pandemic and by social, economic and even political constraints, the leader of the association, which already has more than 175 members, in the 18 districts of the continent and in the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, believes that «Recent times have been very important to reinforce the role of Municipal Assemblies which, as a deliberative body of the municipality, played an important role in the appreciation of the main lines of municipal policy, such as the annual budget or the activity plan of the municipalities that were considered by the respective Municipal Assemblies in the light of a hitherto unknown reality».
Albino Almeida, also president of a Municipal Assembly, recalls that “Municipal Assemblies are a deliberative body of the municipality, made up not only of representatives of the different elected forces, but also of the Presidents of the Junta who played a decisive role in the most critical phases of the pandemic. . It was these mayors who were closest to the populations, felt their anguish and problems and often solved small aspects such as the distribution of masks and alcohol gel, the signaling of the most vulnerable families and students who needed computer equipment and internet access. . These and other aspects that weighed in the assessment of the measures and budgets approved by the Municipal Assembly».
For ANAM there is no doubt that the role of Municipal Assemblies was preponderant in the municipal management of the pandemic.
«In the last two years, not only did we register a high number of new members joining, but we also had to strengthen the support structure to respond to the high number of queries, requests and opinions that gave greater security to the procedures and acts performed, taking into account the account that it is up to the Municipal Assemblies to ensure compliance with the laws and the regularity of the deliberations taken at the meetings”.
3rd ANAM Congress discusses Regionalization, Local Power and Multilevel Governance
Regionalization, Local Power and Multilevel Governance is the central theme of the 3rd ANAM Congress, which will take place on the 19th of February, in Covilhã, with the participation of representatives from many of the Algarve MAs.
For ANAM, society itself has increased the need for new answers to the problems that, at the most varied levels, are felt in the territories. «In this context, it is necessary to recognize that, in order to face its natural limitations, the State has evolved in the sense of promoting a constant reorganization of its structure and its attributions, through the decentralization of competences, namely to the municipalities».
Studies on multi-level governance point to the importance of power-sharing networks. In Portugal, the very concept of regionalization has been enriched with the knowledge acquired in the models of «multilevel governance».
The organization of this meeting, which has a significant representation of associated Municipal Assemblies, believes that «discussing topics such as Regionalization, Local Power and multilevel governance is to raise the democratic debate so that all levels of governance, namely local and regional, are involved in the creation of a strategic objective, such as regionalization, capable of promoting a correct and more effective implementation of public policies in the territory. In this sense, it is increasingly important to debate the role of Municipal Assemblies, in order to reinforce the sense of democracy in local power, raising the very knowledge acquired in the exercise of democratic power, since the 25th of April».
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