The inclusion of Ana Simões Silva as a councilor with responsibility in Carlos Moedas’ Executive has been confirmed. The dentist, elected by Chega, had become independent because she felt devalued in the cabinet led by Bruno Mascarenhas.
To accommodate the ninth councilor and the consequent absolute majority, Carlos Moedas created two departments: Health and Food Waste, the first in which Ana Simões Silva has professional training, the second where she has worked in civil society for a long time.
An extraordinary meeting was called for this purpose and the vote by the Por Ti, Lisboa coalition would always guarantee the appointment. Chega, Livre, Bloco de Esquerda and PS voted against. The PCP, as it has already stated on other occasions in positions in municipal companies, understands that all councilors who have not yet proven themselves can deserve political trust and postponed an early judgment. So he abstained.
The councilors of the Liberal Initiative, despite having a pre-election indication that there was no permission to negotiate with Chega, voted in favor of the entry of the candidate elected by André Ventura’s party, declared independent about a month ago.
Until now, the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition had counted on the favorable votes of Chega councilors for the doubling of Local Accommodation ratios, the amendment to the rules and reinforcement of the President’s powers and the Budget for 2026. In this way, it now has superiority with nine votes, which had never happened in Moedas’ first term.
The opposition joined in the criticism. To DN, Bruno Mascarenhas pointed out that the dentist was a “betrayal”. “The councilor’s objective was to have a salary. People sell themselves not for projects or political objectives. She realized that she would only have attendance tickets and nothing else and went to offer herself to Carlos Moedas”, he accused on Wednesday, continuing with the tone: “She had skills in the social area, but she was a stranger. It was through my leadership that I would learn. He betrayed me, the voters and the party.”
At this moment, given the imbalance in the Executive and opposition, PS understands that possible blocks to certain measures can only be made in the Municipal Assembly, where the election of several mayors reduced the supremacy of the Chamber.
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