Porto City Council President Rui Moreira said in Guarda on Saturday that mayors are not anyone’s leaders.
“She [Governo] They want us to be the leaders. Mayors are not anyone’s leaders. We are elected by the people, we have a duty to do what the state does not do and to always demand what is not granted to us,” he declared at the opening of the congress of the National Association of Independent Local Movements. of which he is also chairman of the General Meeting.
The mayor spoke about the decentralization process, in which he said “the difficult part” was left to the municipalities.
Rui Moreira gave the example of education: “What we started to get was Ajax to clean the windows, we had to replace the tiles, repair doors and be responsible for meals and school transport”.
“With the decentralization imposed on us, we will have fewer resources to solve the problems of population groups that require answers for which we do not have the capacity,” he emphasized.
Rui Moreira defended a “fair distribution of resources and skills” and an “urgent need to demand from municipalities the skills that citizens believe belong to local authorities”.
The mayor of Porto stressed that it is essential that the financing of local authorities is “reviewed”. “Right now, we have the right for the state to share with us what it receives in taxes,” he stressed.
“They say there is a budget shortfall, but it is never talked about. There is a huge silence. For these and other reasons, we have decided that the city of Porto should not be part of an association of municipalities that silences this discussion .” , he recalled.
Rui Moreira also defended that mayors “shouldn’t be submissive” every time they get something.
“No matter how much respect we have and should have for political parties and government, the truth is that the population realizes that we are not homely. That is why people should vote for independent candidates. We are not homely,” he said, drawing applause from the audience.
“No one can tell us that you will remain silent or that you will not be a candidate next time. No one can tell you. This gives us enormous freedom to demand, to complain and to say whatever we want on behalf of our people,” he argued.
In a recorded message addressed to members of Congress, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, thanked “the role of the mayors”.
“All mayors must deserve this gratitude. In your contribution, in your enthusiasm, in your donation, in your commitment, in your service to the community, I thank you as a citizen and as President of the Republic,” he emphasized.
Source: DN
