Carlos Moedas takes office this Monday as mayor of Lisbon
The Social Democrat Carlos Moedas takes office this Monday as Mayor of Lisbon, after three weeks of victory without an absolute majority in September, in which he managed to defeat a candidacy of the outgoing president, socialist Fernando Medina.
The installation and inauguration ceremony of the president and councilors, as well as municipal deputies elected to the Municipal Assembly and the presidents of Parish Councils, will take place at 17:00, at Praça do Município.
Last week, in a letter addressed to the president of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, José Maximiano Leitão, Fernando Medina resigned as councilor: “I believe that this is the solution that best serves the interests of the city, the functioning of the council’s executive meetings and the ability of a council to focus on the future rather than the past.”
Carlos Moedas was elected Mayor of Lisbon by the coalition “Novos Tempos” (PSD / CDS-PP / MPT / PPM / Aliança), which won 34.25% of the votes, withdrawing the municipality from the PS, which led the municipal executive of the capital for the last 14 years.
Fernando Medina had re-applied for the coalition “Mais Lisboa” (PS / Livre).
According to the official results that are still provisional, the “New Times” coalition won seven councilors, with 34.25% of the votes (83,121 votes); the coalition “Mais Lisboa” also obtained seven councilors, with 33.3% (80,822 votes); the CDU (PCP / PEV) two, with 10.52% (25,528 votes); and BE got a mandate, with 6.21% (15,063).
From the list headed by former European Commissioner Carlos Moedas, councilors Filipe Anacoreta Correia (chairman of the General Council of the CDS-PP), Joana Castro e Almeida (planner who will assume the responsibility of Urbanism), Filipa Roseta (who is a PSD deputy) were elected in the Assembly of the Republic), Diogo Moura (CDS-PP), Ângelo Pereira (PSD’s Lisbon District president) and Laurinda Alves (journalist).
From the “Mais Lisboa” coalition, they were elected to the council of Fernando Medina; the architect Inês Lobo; the outgoing vice-president of the Chamber, João Paulo Saraiva, whose responsibilities were Finance, Human Resources, Maintenance and Municipal Works; the president of Lisboa Ocidental SRU – Society for Urban Rehabilitation, Inês Ucha; Rui Tavares, who was one of the founders of the Free political party; the outgoing councilor with the responsibility of Housing and Local Development, Paula Marques, who was elected as independent by the Movimento Cidadãos por Lisboa; and the outgoing councilor for Mobility, Security, Economy, Innovation and Civil Protection, Miguel Gaspar.
With the resignation of Fernando Medina from the council in the 2021-2025 mandate, the 8th name on the list of the “Mais Lisboa” candidacy may be part of the executive – Inês de Drummond, president of the Benfica Parish Council between 2009 and 2020 and since February 2020, advises the office of the outgoing mayor of Lisbon City Council.
The two elected CDU councilors are João Ferreira and Ana Jara, both councilors in the 2017-2021 term, and the elected BE councilor is Beatriz Gomes Dias.
With no term ending now, the executive was made up of eight elected by the PS (including Citizens for Lisbon and Lisbon is a lot of people), one by the BE (with a governance agreement with the PS), four by the CDS-PP, two do PSD and two of the CDU.
Over the past 31 years, the PS governed the Lisbon Chamber for 26 years and the Social Democrats took over the presidency of the municipality for another five.