The PS in the Lisbon City Council demanded “urgent clarifications” this Saturday about the performance of the chamber, chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD), in two situations it considers of “very questionable legality”.
At stake, according to the party, is a direct adjustment that “involves payment ‘a posteriori'” for the use of the FIL pavilion to operate a covid-19 vaccination center and the use of “municipal funds for a party-sized dinner ” .
In a statement, the socialist commune group accuses the council of revealing “an action contrary to the principles announced by the president of the autarchy”🇧🇷
“In addition, since the use of public funds is also at stake, their use must be in accordance with the rules of public procurement and also in accordance with the ethics underlying the exercise of public office,” reads the same note.
The newspaper Expresso reported on Friday that the contract between the Lisbon City Council and the AIP Foundation is “illegal”, as according to public procurement rules, the direct award procedure cannot be applied after the service, and this procedure was signed “four months after the end of works”.
It is a contract, awarded privately, whereby the municipality of Stichting AIP awarded the “acquisition of services in the context of the vaccination plan against covid-19”, with the contractual price of 418,489 euros, plus VAT at the normal rate of 23% , for a total of 514,741 euros, with an execution time of 96 days, according to information published on July 25 this year on the Base Portal.
The PS recalls in its communiqué that at the opening of the vaccination center “the mayor announced that it would be made available free of charge”.
In a response to Lusa on Friday, the municipality clarified that the availability of the AIP Foundation for the placement of the vaccination center against covid-19 in the pavilions of the FIL was “focused on the costs of making the place available (rent) and not on a whole of indirect costs and services that are/were essential for the use of the space”, such as the consumption of water, electricity, security and cleaning, assembly and disassembly.
In order to relieve the AIP Foundation of the “indirect costs” it incurred in operating the vaccination center, “the aforementioned public procurement procedure was promoted between December 2021 and March of this year, which was considered insufficient for the regularization of these costs”, it said. know the CML.
The PS in the Lisbon City Council also criticized the organization of a dinner “with means of the autarchy” for Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and one of the figures of the PP, in July, and at which figures from Portuguese right.
As Novo Semanário wrote today, opposition councilors were unaware of the event. The municipality, quoted by the newspaper, assumed that the event was “organized by the CML like so many other receptions”.
On these two matters, the municipal party of the PS announced the submission of a request for an explanation from the council for two matters it considers to be of “highly questionable legality”.
The socialists will also ask for an “emergency meeting” of the AML Commission on Human and Social Rights, Citizenship and Transparency and Anti-Corruption, “to provide necessary clarifications and listen to stakeholders”.
Source: DN
