For the mayors, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated at the conclusion of the XXVIth Congress of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) that “decentralization has two sides of the coin”.
“One side is transferring equivalent or corresponding skills and resources to local government. The other side is to reform the state because it cannot remain what it was before the decentralization process. The local government cannot be called upon to reform – as, without the state reforming itself, it will fall behind in reforms,” he said.
Marcelo believed that the state cannot “get used to the idea of an easy alibi” that decentralized powers are no longer relevant to him, because they have passed to local power.
“However, it is a matter for the country. That is why it is also a matter for the State,” he said.
The President of the Republic also emphasized that “the national vision of public policy is a task of the state” and that “the municipalities, with more powers, are responsible for part of the intervention in this public policy”.
“But this may not work if the national framework fails,” he stressed.
The Head of State illustrated that “it is on its way – and ultimately – that which, from January, is the definition of the management conditions of the National Health Service, preceded by some diplomas” awaiting promulgation.
“Everyone knows that the powers of local authorities will be expanded. But the responsibility for the national management of this new reality, which will revive the National Health Service, lies with the national public institution, created within the framework of the State,” he explained.
According to the president, local authorities must “move forward and meet their new obligations arising from their new powers.”
“But the state must accelerate its reforms. Because the state after decentralization is different from the state before decentralization. How else? Because that is the great imaginative challenge for constitutional reform. And there are still about three years to go until the end of the legislature,” he concluded.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa concluded today the XXVIth Congress of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities, which took place in Seixal, Setúbal district.
Source: DN
