SIC NEWS INTERVIEW
Former Social Democratic Minister gave an interview to SIC Notícias on the same day that Parliament scrapped the map of parishes that it created precisely 12 years ago. Miguel Relvas dfrom that this is a setback and criticizes what he calls lobbys autarchic.
This Friday, Parliament approved the which have been united since 2013 and which now give rise to 302 “new” parishes. In Parliament they heard criticism of the law on administrative reorganization of the territory which, at the time, reduced 1,168 parishes on the continent from 4,260 to the current 3,092.
In an interview with SIC Notícias, the former social-democratic minister speaks in a “setback” who had the support of his own party.
“It’s difficult for me because I think it’s a setback. And the setbacks are something that we pay double because we’re going to need time to recover. It’s been more than 100 years since a reform of this scale has been carried out”, highlights Miguel Relvas.
The proposal, however, ended up being approved with favorable votes from PSD, PS, BE, PCP, Livre and PAN – who came together to break this law.
Can Enough and IL threaten the PSD in municipal elections?
Com as local elections scheduled between September and October, Miguel Relvas remembers that there are two political forces that have gained prominence in the last four years: Chega and Iniciativa Liberal (IL).
He doubts that any of these parties will be able to win the City Council, but warns of the possibility of “stealing” votes from the PSD.
“Chambers don’t win, but winning one or two councilors could be enough to prevent the PSD from winning Municipal Chambers or losing them.”
“The PSD has to be able to understand that it has to be able to have the best candidates not only in Lisbon and Porto, but throughout the country. It has to look at the most dynamic sectors of society, it has to have a great spirit of openness to independence”, he adds.
Miguel Relvas considers the and leaves a warning to Carlos Moedas: “He has to know that an alliance with the Liberal Initiative (IL) is fundamental.”
“Engineer Carlos Moedas has everything it takes to win the Lisbon City Council (CML). He needs to have a good coalition policy, but above all he needs to be efficient in management.”
“There is a lot of fatigue in relation to PR”
In the view of the former social-democratic minister, the electorate is tired of Marcelo Rebelo Sousa, which has accelerated the discussion of the presidential elections scheduled for the beginning of 2026.
It also guarantees that its support is reserved for the candidate presented by the PSD and prevents any approach to Admiral Gouveia e Melo.
– With Lusa
