The parties had until the 8th to submit proposals for the desegregation of parishes added in 2013 to parliament, with the aim of these being voted on in a final vote next Friday, as part of a tight calendar that foresees a new administrative map already in force in the next municipal elections.
A replacement text for the proposed reversion of parishes added by the “Relvas Law” was entered into parliament this Wednesday, providing for the separation of 135 parishes to restore the administrative situation that 303 of these municipalities had in 2013.
The parties had until the 8th to submit proposals for the desegregation of parishes added in 2013 to parliament, with the aim of these being voted on in a final vote next Friday, as part of a tight calendar that foresees a new administrative map already in force in the next municipal elections.
A Bill, jointly signed on Wednesday by the PSD, PS, BE, PCP, Livre and PAN, was introduced providing for the desegregation of 132 Parish Unions (UF), eight more than the 124 that the Working Group — Parishes had considered, and the replacement of 296 parishes.
This Wednesday, the subscribers submitted a text to replace the previous one, which foresees changes in three more parishes, to disaggregate part of their territories, so that, if the text is approved on Friday, there will be 303 the parishes restored.
This is the case of the UF of Serra e Junceira, in Tomar, which will replace the Parish of Serra and the Parish of Junceira, a proposal that had been rejected supposedly due to lack of response “to the request for improvement” to “clarify the economic and financial viability” of parishes to be replaced, but ended up being handed over.
Also included was the desegregation of the Parish of Buarcos and São Julião, in Figueira da Foz, into the two parishes of Buarcos and São Julião, which had been rejected due to lack of a declaration from the neighboring Junta de Quiaios, but which was proven to have been issued.
Brenha: a particular case…
The other case included in the new version of the text, also in Figueira da Foz, deals with the disintegration of the Parish of Alhadas to replace the old Parish of Brenha.
This case is peculiar, because in 2013 Brenha was not united into a UF, but extinguished, with its territory included in that of Alhadas.
In addition to this case, there is another case of an extinct parish that will be reestablished (despite having been excluded by the Working Group), but which had already been considered when the first version of the Bill was drafted: It is about Bicos, in Odemira, which was extinguished by the administrative reform of 2013, and then its territory was divided between the parishes of Colos and Vale de Santiago, which will now lose the territory they then received to restore the Parish of Bicos.
The cases of extinct parishes that will be restored also led the proponents to include a new article 12 that specifically refers to parishes that in 2013 did not join together into parish unions, but that have ceased to exist.
The new statement also includes the Parish of Ovar which, by mistake, was not described in the breakdown of the UF of Ovar, São João, Arada and São Vicente de Pereira Jusã.
Proposal should be discussed on Friday
According to the rules of the Assembly of the Republic, proponents can submit improvement changes to the texts of legislative proposals up to 48 hours before the vote, or even on the same day if they have the unanimous approval of the parties represented in parliament.
The inclusion of new disaggregation requests in addition to those that were validated by the working group took into account the delivery of missing documentation or the correction of information that had been provided, as the analysis process began around two years ago and, in the meantime Over time, the reality of these authorities has changed, according to a parliamentary source.
The proposal, which should be discussed and voted on by parliament on Friday, approves the replacement of parishes added by Law No. 11-A/2013, completing the special, simplified and transitional mechanism for creating parishes, included in the new regime of creation of these municipalities, which “requires that the parishes that use it reestablish the conditions of the parishes added in 2013, and it is not possible, under any circumstances, to give rise to new or different unions of parishes”.
The statement also provides for the creation of Installation Committees for new parishes and Extinction Committees for the current Parish Unions and that the current executives will remain in full capacity until the next local elections, scheduled for next September or October.
“The elaboration of this transitional regime must guarantee the functional continuity of the representative bodies of the parishes, whose extinction will take effect following the 2025 municipal elections”, adds the joint bill.
The law on the creation, modification and extinction of parishes gave one year after its entry into force, on December 21, 2021, for the municipalities added in 2013 to request the reversal of the process under a special and simplified transitional mechanism.
Around 30 requests for UF desegregation were decided after the deadline and parliament approved the creation of a new working group that will analyze these processes under the general regime provided for in the Legal Regime for the Creation, Modification and Extinction of Parishes, but no longer under the simplified mechanism.
In 2013, Portugal reduced 1,168 parishes, from 4,260 to the current 3,092, due to the imposition of the ‘troika’ in 2012/2013.
