The Liberal Initiative proposes to transfer eleven posts from different government agencies from Lisbon, stating that the state should lead by example and create new career opportunities in different parts of the country.
To achieve this goal, the liberal parliamentary party presents eleven initiatives. Speaking to the Lusa agency, deputy Carlos Guimarães Pinto said this is just a “first round” and that “there will be more to come”.
The former leader of the Liberals believed that “the central state has a weight in the relevant economy and this weight is determined by where the organizations are located, i.e. where the central state decides to place these organizations, [eles] bring with it some economic activity”.
“It is in many cases the state itself asking companies to move inland and other parts of the country. But what authority does the state have to require these companies to do so when it is the central state itself that has already concentrates agencies? in one geographic space so short? That’s what we want to change,” he wondered.
The former president of IL explained that these initiatives aim to take the “pressure” off Lisbon and “bring more opportunities to areas outside the capital, giving more people career opportunities in those areas” and that “they feel they have more work.” opportunities there”.
“And at the same time, in many cases, we talk about bringing these agencies closer to the sectors they oversee. Is it so logical to have the Institute of Wine and Viticulture there near Marquês de Pombal? I don’t think there are any big vines in that area, I don’t think Marquês de Pombal is a very well known variety.”, ironically.
Another suggestion from the Liberal parliamentary group is move the headquarters of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests to Leiriapossibly Pedrogão Grande, he said.
When asked whether he expects the parliamentary majority of the PS to approve some of these proposals, the Liberal deputy replies: “We want to believe so”.
“The Prime Minister himself was very motivated some time ago to move Infarmed to Porto (…) then he has not kept that promise. But this time, we’re going to bring a wider range of possibilities. Perhaps in this broad range there are some that the PS will accept, because I believe that this struggle against centralism, for relocation, for the creation of opportunities across the country is not a struggle of only one party, but a struggle of several parties” , he insisted.
When asked if these projects are aimed at fulfilling one of the goals of the new leadership of the IL – capturing voters outside of Lisbon and Porto – Guimarães Pinto replied that decentralization has always been a banner of the party.
of the presented projects IL proposes moving the headquarters of the Institute of Vine and Wine to Vila Real; the National Communications Authority (ANACOM) headquarters for Viseu; the Directorate-General for Economic Activities and the headquarters of the Insurance and Pension Fund Supervisory Authority for Castelo Branco; or the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) headquarters for Aveiro.
IL proceeds with the relocation of the headquarters of the High Commission for Migration to Setúbal; the General Directorate of Social Security of the district of Braga; or even the headquarters of the Housing and Urban Rehabilitation Institute for Portimão, among others.
Source: DN
