Carlos Moedas can now distribute responsibilities | Lisbon
The new executive of the Lisbon Chamber met this Monday for the second time and Carlos Moedas already has an open avenue to distribute responsibilities among councilors. After Friday, the delegation of powers to the president was postponed, the proposal was now approved with amendments from the PCP and PS and the vote against by the BE.
As usually happens at the beginning of each municipal term, the chamber defines which decisions can be delegated to its president – and these councilors – and what the voting rules are for all political policies.
A novelty compared to four years ago is that, as proposed by the PCP, urban operations considered to have a relevant impact that imply an increase in construction of more than 800 square meters have to be decided at a council meeting. In Fernando Medina’s term, this requirement only applied to projects that represent an increase of more than 1800 square meters, with the Town Councilor having the right to decide in all other cases.
The communists already presented this idea in 2017, but the PS took it away. This time, however, the socialists voted for the PCP and the BE, while the PSD and CDS voted against.
The PS and Livre benches also managed to see two changes in the delegation of powers, with the agreement of Carlos Moedas. The sale, concession or assignment of any municipal property with housing potential is now voted on by the chamber and the creation of monomodal transport titles at the initiative of the president is limited to specific events.
The proposals to amend the BE were rejected by the other councilors and the party voted against the final document. Among the blocist’s suggestions were the mandatory vote in chamber for the sale or concession of municipal properties whenever their value was greater than 250 times the national minimum wage, at the discount of 500 times recommended in the approved proposal.
This Monday’s vote was an essential step for Carlos Moedas, who can now officially delegate powers to his team. The president has already announced that he will take over the bulk of the energy transition and climate change, but he is likely to be given more responsibility. The accumulation of masses is inevitable, since the PSD and CDS have seven councilors and the PS, without a previous mandate, had eight, with the BE councilor, with whom Medina had a governance agreement, still remaining a portfolio. And even so, there were a lot of themes: Miguel Gaspar, for example, became councilor for Mobility, Economy and Civil Protection.
It is already known that Joana Almeida will be the next councilor of Urbanism, that Filipa Roseta will assume the responsibility of Housing and that Diogo Moura will take over the Culture – without prejudice to other masses that may take over. Behind the scenes of local authorities, there is information from vice-president Filipe Anacoreta Correia who will be in charge of Finance, that Laurinda Alves will be responsible for Social Action and Ângelo Pereira will be responsible for Mobility. Official confirmation will arrive in the next few days.