There have been no propaganda posters on the Marquês de Pombal roundabout since Wednesday morning. The removal was already planned after Mayor Carlos Moedas defended on September 12 that this scenario “left no one indifferent”, speaking in a climate of “total impunity” as the space around the roundabout was full of propaganda posters. . According to Moedas, the posters formed a “visual spot in one of the most emblematic areas of the city”.
But the decision may not be legal, says National Election Commission (CNE). In response to the DN, the entity refers clarifications to an opinion of 13 September – unanimously approved in the plenary – in which, following the complaint of the Nós, party Cidadãos (which had a poster on the spot), it is decided that “propaganda, in the situation described, is legitimate under the present law, the amendment of which is the exclusive competence of the Assembly of the Republic”. Referring to Article 4 of Law No 97/88 (which “regulates the civil exercise of freedom of propaganda”), the CNE concludes: “The Lisbon City Council is not subject to the applicable legal provisions.”
The Municipality of Lisbon had given 10 working days the day before – counting from that date – for the outdoors removed both from Praça do Marquês de Pombal and from the vicinity of Parque Eduardo VII. If they didn’t comply, they were fined. In total there were 13 entities that had posters in the area: the parties Aliança, Alternativa Democrática Nacional (ADN), Bloco de Esquerda, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, Movimento Alternativa Socialista (MAS), Nós Cidadãos, PAN, PCP and PSD, the MUDAR movement, the National Police Union and Joacine Katar Moreira. Of these, only four (MUDAR, PAN, PCP and Nós Cidadãos) had not yet removed their posters by Tuesday.
This Wednesday, the official account of Carlos Moedas was released, on the social network twittera video in which it was possible to see the last billboards to be removed, comparing the zone with and without posters.
Good morning Lisbon. Now without posters at the Marquês de Pombal. pic.twitter.com/WBqgxt6mgr
– Carlos Coins (@Coins) September 28, 2022
The citizens’ association Forum Cidadania Lx – which self-identifies as “impartial but never apolitical” – received news of the withdrawal “great”. “It is shameful the truly barbaric occupation to which most of the public space in the city of Lisbon has been subjected for years.one of the main elements of visual pollution in the city, of which the Marquês de Pombal is the greatest example,” the association said in a statement, already pointing to the same kind of action in other places in the city, as “the Assembly of the Republic, the area adjacent to the Basilica da Estrela, Saldanha, Campo Pequeno, Entrecampos, Alameda D. Afonso Henriques, where advertising and political propaganda posters remain outside the election period and/or disrespecting legally protected areas to exist. “
For DN, a source from Carlos Moedas’s office also points to “the vast majority of entities that have decided to legally remove the respective billboards,” devaluing the CNE’s decision. “We understood our decision and communicated it to the entities and they almost all agreed,” he said. adding to that, ‘For the time being, the priority is not to impose fines’as it had communicated, the municipality of Lisbon reveals that “during election periods there may be situations where there are posters again, but the priority was to remove everything that was there”, there are currently no plans to remove outdoors to other parts of the city.
The intended parties have different opinions. On the part of the PCP, the party’s district organization believes that the removal of the posters served to “distract the attention of Lisboners from the problems that the PSD/CDS management is not responding to”. “The act now being carried out by the CML is deplorable, it exceeds the powers of the autarky, violates the freedom of expression, the law and the constitution of the republic,” the party said in a statement, speaking of “censorship ” by the Manager. Contacted by the DN, the President of Nós, Cidadãos, Joaquim Afonso, endorses the position of the communists and adds: “I do not know to what extent a loss of mandate cannot happen. It is a serious and undemocratic act.”
Source: DN
