PS, BE and Livre in the Lisbon Chamber this Monday criticized the non-compliance with the rules for assigning toponyms regarding the name of Cardinal Manuel Clemente for the bicycle-pedon bridge over the Trancão River, announced without a prior vote.
Three days after the announcement, which led to a petition that already has more than 17 thousand signatures for the “change of the planned name”asked the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Manuel Clemente, not to attribute his name to the bicycle-pedon bridge over the Trancão River, after the controversy that arose in recent days, the Patriarchate reported this Monday.
Lusa questioned the Lisbon Chamber about the cardinal patriarch’s decision, but the council replied that it had nothing to add at this time.
On Friday, the Lisbon Chamber, chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD), announced that the new bicycle-pedestrian bridge over the Trancão River, connecting the capital and Loures in the Tagus Park, which was built for the World Youth Day (WYD) ), Ponte Cardeal would be called Dom Manuel Clemente.
This announcement surprised the councilors of the opposition in the Lisbon Chamber, namely the BE, a party that on Saturday submitted a request for clarification on the assignment of the toponym Dom Manuel Clemente, since the rules foreseen were not respected.
“It was with surprise that the Bloco de Esquerda saw President Carlos Moedas rushing to assign the toponym Dom Manuel Clemente,” said Ricardo Moreira, from the BE, on behalf of councilor Beatriz Gomes Dias.
Speaking to the Lusa bureau, Ricardo Moreira said the announcement was hasty because there was no deliberation by the municipal council, there was no ruling by the municipal toponymy commission and the name “does not comply with the rules” that state that “the award of toponymy may not occur until 5 years after the death of the personality, thus favoring greater universality to individuals except in exceptional cases, duly substantiated”.
The petition to change the planned name for the Lisbon/Loures bridge to Parque Tejo “is an expression that that name is particularly controversial, so it makes no sense for Carlos Moedas to go over the rules,” said the BE, adding adding that, if the proposal has yet to be voted on in a parliamentary meeting, vote against it.
The PS Council also defended that “it would have been wiser on the part of the Lisbon Chamber to initiate a participatory process, taking into account the autarchy’s own rules, whereby the involvement and exposure of a name in the public square was avoided. as it turns out”.
The Socialists lament that Social Democrat Carlos Moedas, who rules without an absolute majority, “did not choose an open, participatory process involving the Toponymy Commission, but rather opted for a hasty process over WYD,” accusing it of acting. “in the thirst for media protagonism that has characterized him lately, leading to a situation regrettable in all respects, which was entirely avoidable”.
The PS also stressed that “the rules and regulations have purposes not only for participation and the standardization of objective criteria, but also for the preservation of institutions and the right to good name of those concerned”, pointing out that the assignment of toponyms should only be dedicated to deceased persons and recalling that the name of Jorge Sampaio, former Mayor of Lisbon and former President of the Republic, who died on September 10, 2021, is still without any structure in the city.
With regard to the name of Parque Tejo, in which there is a petition to call it Parque Papa Francisco, BE defends that the assignment of a toponym should be done according to the rules, while PS believes that “there is no point” in doing it now because “the construction in question is incomplete, as there is still only terrain modeled and prepared for WYD”, without “the design and launch of the tender for a real green park, with trees and shaded areas that make it pleasant for the inhabitants of Lisbon”.
Livre councilor Rui Tavares wants Dom Manuel Clemente’s name voted on by the council and will vote against the granting of this toponym to the bicycle-pedon bridge, proposing that, as an alternative, “a process of participatory public consultation between the two municipalities – Lisbon and Loures – for choosing the name of the bridge”.
Rui Tavares also said that President Carlos Moedas, “contrary to the chamber’s own rules, has proposals for Livre’s toponymy that meet all the criteria (five years after the death of the person in question, approval by a vote in the room, presentation to the toponymy) which has not been advanced so far”, in which one of them is dedicated to José Manuel Tengarrinha.
Lusa also questioned the councilors of the PCP and Cidadãos Por Lisboa, but without success.
The board of the Lisbon Chamber consists of 17 members, seven of whom are elected from the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança) – the only ones with assigned responsibilities -, three from the PS, two from the PCP , three from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.
Source: DN
