Manuel de Almeida / Lusa
Socialists admit to asking the Government for an investigation, which could result in the dissolution of the executive or loss of mandate, depending on the court decision due to the alleged presence of an illegal councilor in the municipality.
The plot surrounding the allegation that the executive led by Carlos Moedas at the Lisbon City Council (CML) has one in its composition is getting more complicated.
The situation has already generated protests, investigations and requests for government intervention. Councilors from the Socialist Party (PS) abandoned a CML meeting in protest, arguing that the legal certainty of decisions is compromised due to the questionable replacement of the councilor Diogo Moura.
The Culture councilor was replaced by Joana Oliveira Costafifth alternate on the CDS list, despite Nuno da Rocha Correia, the 14th effective candidate, not having resigned or formally suspended his mandate, as required by law. This replacement was justified by the Chamber’s legal department, but the legal opinion was not disclosed — neither to opposition councilors nor to the public, notes the newspaper this Thursday.
Now, the PS admits resorting to other means.
On a weekly basis, the socialist councilor Ines Drummond admits believing that the issue should be clarified to avoid the nullity of the CML’s decisions. If the legal opinion is not made available or reveals inconsistencies, the PS admits asking the Government for an investigation, which could result in the dissolution of the executive or loss of mandatedepending on the court decision.
“We will wait for the said opinion, which they refused to share with the councilors”, the councilor tells Expresso. The decision, he highlights, “could result in the loss of mandate or the dissolution of the body”, and would then have to be taken by a court.
There is no middle ground: either resign or take office
The Left Bloc suggested an audit by the General Inspectorate of Finance to assess the Chamber’s deliberations and the risk of nullity. Other opposition parties chose to remain at the meeting so as not to jeopardize decisions regarding social support, but demanded detailed explanations about the legality of the replacement process.
The National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) reinforced that the legislation requires candidates on the list to take office or formally resign, something that did not happen in this case. Jorge Bacelar Gouveiaa specialist in Administrative Law, highlighted that a councilor is or is not a member of the body, with no room for intermediate positions.
“The law determines that, in the event of resignation, the local elected official is replaced by the member immediately next on the list of the political force in question”, explains the ANMP.
In the event that the next person or persons on the list do not intend to assume the effective exercise of their mandate, “notably full-time”, as happened in Lisbon, they have two options: “They renounce the mandate in writing and thus, by unilateral will, cease to be part of the the list; or they take office and immediately request the suspension of the mandate of the body, with the maximum suspension period being 365 calendar days.”
The controversial hiring of Joana Oliveira Costa
The situation became even more complicated with the controversy surrounding Joana Oliveira Costa, accused of irregular hiring. The councilor hired Enide Seixasdeputy general secretary of Popular Youth, by direct appointment, to provide legal advice, despite Seixas not having completed his law course.
The contract, worth 65.668,75 eurosspecifies that Seixas would offer legal services in the area of Economics, which could constitute illicit attorneyship, according to the Bar Association.
According to the magazine, Oliveira Costa’s office only stated that the use of the term “legal advice” was a “writing span”arising from the use of a standard draft for several contracts.
