The CDS Cascais council declared this Wednesday, February 25th, that the party will remain in the municipal executive, despite being against the attribution of responsibilities to Chega, decided by the president of the municipality, the social democrat Nuno Piteira Lopes.
“Although the CDS-Cascais disagrees with the decision taken by the Mayor regarding the integration of members of another party into the municipal executive, it recognizes that the definition of the composition of the executive and the attribution of responsibilities constitute exclusive prerogatives of the powers of the Mayor, within the scope of its institutional functions”, reads a statement from the centrist council.
The coalition between PSD and CDS won the municipal elections in Cascais last year, but lost the absolute majority held in previous terms, which led Nuno Piteira Lopes to start by assigning responsibilities to the two councilors elected by the PS, João Ruivo and Alexandra Carvalho. However, it was revealed this Monday that he reached an agreement to integrate Chega’s elected João Rodrigues dos Santos, giving him the responsibilities of Anti-Corruption and Transparency and Physical Activity and Sports – and the other councilor from that party, Pedro Teodoro dos Santos, became part of the Monitoring and Inspection Committee of the Cascais Water Concession Contract -, which led the two socialists to leave the executive.
Faced with doubts regarding the position of the centrist councilor, Pedro Morais Soares, the CDS declared that it “is not, nor was it, involved in any political agreement” with Chega for the allocation of responsibilities in the Cascais Chamber, “nor did it participate in any negotiations in this regard”. However, the party guarantees that it “respects the decision expressed by voters” and that it “will continue to focus on working with the population, defending the interests of the municipality and providing permanent attention to its needs”, ruling out a scenario of rupture with Piteira Lopes.
The secretary general of the CDS, Pedro Morais Soares, is also responsible for International Relations, Social Development, Health Promotion, Protection of Children and Young People, Gender Equality and Social Innovation and Education, Promotion of Talents and Youth. In previous terms, he presided over the Union of Parishes of Cascais and Estoril, currently led by also centrist Francisco Kreye (former councilor of the Cascais Chamber), while the former centrist minister Pedro Mota Soares remains as president of the Cascais Municipal Assembly.
The CDS council argues that the party “has always been a factor of stability and a loyal partner in the governance” of the municipality, but leaves a warning to Nuno Piteira Lopessaying he hopes that the changes in the municipal executive “do not compromise the necessary institutional stability to fulfill the commitments made to the population of Cascais”.
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