During an intervention in the Period of Order Before the Day (PAOD) of the Lisbon City Council meeting, the socialist councilor Pedro Anastácio accused the mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD), of having "kneeled before the Government" and done "an errand" in the process that led to the dismissal of the resigning trustee of the Santa Casa de Lisboa.

"The way in which the councilor [Sofia Athayde] and the mayor lent themselves to making a statement pointing out the lack of response capacity in the social area of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia says a lot about how the mayor sees the municipal interest", said the socialist councilor, who has no assigned portfolios.

Pedro Anastácio also recalled that it was the resigning administration of SCML that "denounced the management errors of the previous administration and that launched an audit to ascertain them", sending the conclusions to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

"A year ago, the mayor said that the relationship between the Santa Casa and the Lisbon City Council was excellent. Therefore, it was with astonishment that I heard the mayor say yesterday [Tuesday] in the Municipal Assembly that he has been denouncing the social response in the Santa Casa for about two years", he pointed out.

In response, the mayor of Lisbon referred the responsibility for dismissing Ana Jorge to the Government, admitting, however, the existence of gaps in the management of the resigning administration of SCML.

"This is a decision of the Government. I am not going to comment on the Government's decision. In the last private meeting we had with the trustee, what we felt was that there was a decrease in the part of social assistance. I did everything I could so that this would not happen, publicly referring to the role of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia and encouraging it", said the mayor.

On Tuesday, during the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, the deputy Miguel Coelho (PS) had accused the mayor of Lisbon of whitewashing the "political purge" of the board of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, dismissed by the Minister of Labor on charges of inaction.

The also president of the Parish Council of Santa Maria Maior, who spoke after Carlos Moedas spoke about the written information on the activity of the executive, recalled previous reappointments by socialist governments, such as that of Pedro Santana Lopes (PSD), unlike the executive of Luís Montenegro (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM).

The deputy announced that the socialist bench will call the 6th permanent commission of the AML, of Human and Social Rights, Citizenship and Transparency and Fight against Corruption, the councilor for Social Action in the Lisbon City Council "to explain what went wrong in the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa in social support".

Also on Tuesday, the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security accused the dismissed trustee of the Santa Casa of "total inaction", the administration of benefiting itself and rejected the idea of "political purge" in the dismissal.

In an interview with RTP, Minister Maria do Rosário Ramalho said she had "a very solid basis" for the decision to dismiss the SCML trustee, as well as the rest of the institution's board (administration).

Today, in response, Ana Jorge denied the accusations of the Minister of Labor that the institution's administrators had "benefited themselves", arguing that it was necessary to justify this statement.

Ana Jorge took office on May 02, 2023, chosen by the previous socialist government of António Costa, and inherited an institution with serious financial difficulties, after years of pandemic and a process of internationalization of social games, carried out by the administration of the provider Edmundo Martinho, which may have caused losses in the order of 50 million euros.

After her dismissal, on April 20, the trustee wrote a letter to all SCML employees, in which she accused the Government of having dismissed her "rudely, arrogantly and slanderously" and that she was taken by surprise.

The board of the resigning SCML is composed of Ana Jorge (trustee), Ana Vitória Azevedo (vice-trustee) and Nuno Miguel Alves, Teresa do Passo, Sérgio Cintra, and João Correia (members).

Leia Também: Carlos Moedas diz que recuperou mil casas "abandonadas" pelo PS em Lisboa (Portuguese version)