Retreat by the president of the Municipal Assembly allows approval of the accounts

The 2023 accountability of the Manteigas City Council, governed by the independent movement Manteigas 2023, required the casting vote of the president of the Municipal Assembly to obtain the body’s approval.

In the first vote, the PSD voted against, the PS abstained and the independent movement Manteigas 2023 voted in favor, resulting in 6 votes against, 6 in favor and 7 abstentions.

José Manuel Cardoso (PSD), when exercising the quality vote, highlighted the difficulty of “voting in favor of an accounting in which more was spent on renting tents than on housing”, stressing that if he were a mere elected official he would not change his voting sense.

“I once again give the benefit of the doubt” to the executive, he said, and ended up approving the documents.

At the meeting of the Municipal Assembly, which took place on Friday (26) in the afternoon, Flávio Massano, president of the executive, recalled the criticism of the documents at the chamber meeting in which they were approved, stating that “the execution of the expenditure is being criticized of capital, investment, ignoring everything else that takes place”.

He detailed that the municipality invested in various social supports, cultural events and others, which are considered current expenses and have a greater impact on people’s lives than carrying out some physical works, such as roundabouts, he compared.

Sara Ferreira (PSD), pointed out the “healthy optimism” of the municipal president when presenting the budget, noting, however, that most of the priorities “are at square one”.

Ana Prata (Manteigas 2030) highlighted the “satisfactory financial situation of the municipality”, which will allow it to continue with the strategy outlined to improve the lives of the population.

Inês Carvalho (PS) highlighted that the material execution of the budget fell far short, stressing that “this did not happen because of money. She noted, “with concern, that despite the good financial situation” and the benefit of the doubt that her bench gave in the budget discussion, there are projects that are not moving forward.

“The budget was the biggest ever, and the execution, was it?”, he asked.

Similar to what happened with the budget for 2024, which was approved with the quality vote of the president of the Municipal Assembly, at the time still on the PS bench, this time it was the Social Democrat José Manuel Cardoso who changed the voting direction to approve the documents.