Goodbye, Portugal, I’m going to Lisbon! – Observer
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In my land, the story is told of a gentleman who went to try his luck in the capital and uttered the title phrase, convinced that going to Lisbon meant distancing himself from the country he was born. The story that is told, with a humorous tone, has a lot of truth. At the time, going to Lisbon was like going abroad. Leaving the small and lost village in the middle of the countryside where there was only one television, in the cafe, and few job opportunities, was such a big leap that it felt like moving to another country.
Lisbon, which just for the record, is not on paper the official capital of the country, has become an epicenter in a small country, with 308 municipalities and 3092 parishes.
When we talk about decentralization, we talk about transferring powers from the central state to the autarquias. It is spoken timidly and, often, not in the context of electoral acts, especially in all the many times, they are contaminated.
Of course, when talking about decentralization, a process must be initiated. It is not something that is done with a legislative act.
This centralization is, first of all, a cultural and historical problem. Before the age they were already fixed as our borders, and the capital defined for centuries. All this since the state determined a country very focused on its central development and this has, therefore, negative effects on political representation on the country’s development.
Is this a model that makes sense in the 21st century?
Let’s say that it is a topic that is not very popular among the political class. It’s part of that batch of long-term policies that don’t give immediate votes. The buzz generated about change of the Constitutional Court for Coimbra is synonymous with how inconvenient it is to take this type of measure.
I have already appreciated in terms of reference 2021 when the votes were presented2, the government of António Costa had to skid the 2021 authentication target as new municipal competences”. Well, whoever was elected1 in October did not say new powers.
Does it make sense to equalize competences in different municipalities? Won’t it be beneficial to treat differently what is different? Each municipality has its specificities, not only cultural, but also economic and social. Of course there are points of convergence. However, there are also competencies that serve specific points in the country better than others.
It is known that local power is complex and ineffective. It needs a reform in its operational form. It can be seen that we voted on three ballots for the local authorities (City Hall, Municipal Assembly and Parish Assembly). Making local authorities more agile and autonomous is perhaps more perennial and more effective than moving a building from the terreiro paço to another municipality.
It is the mayors who know their people, their territories. There are measures that create a central state that do not fit the whole country, small dimensions of the same measures.
Who knows the country’s forests? It’s not the central power, it’s the local power.
Who knows the needs of the elderly? It is not the central power that reads reports. It is the local power that knows the name, the face and the causes of loneliness…
Who knows what the municipal school’s problems are? It’s the local power.
After a pandemic where we all let “go to Lisbon to gather” don’t we have the political courage to enter with this topic? Dealing with desertification is not about giving 500 euros for the birth of a child in the countryside, it is about enhancing the added value of that place, so that there is a future, not just a present. the House to deal with this issue as quickly as possible, because Portugal is not just Lisbon.