The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), in a written statement sent to Lusa, reveals that he asked Diogo Moura "to suspend his mandate, a request to which he immediately agreed".

Diogo Moura (CDS-PP) was accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) of fraud in two internal elections of the Christian Democrats.

In the note sent to Lusa today, Carlos Moedas explains that, "despite the allegations that are imputed to him [Diogo Moura] not referring to his mandate as councilman", he considers "that there are no conditions for the councilman to continue to develop his work in favour of the people of Lisbon".

The mayor praises "the excellent work, commitment and dedication" of Diogo Moura over the last two and a half years as councilman, "in areas such as innovation, economy and culture".

The Public Prosecutor's Office accused Diogo Moura, who is also vice-president of the CDS-PP, of "two aggravated crimes of fraud in elections", for allegedly having tried to manipulate the votes of members in two electoral acts (2019 and 2021), according to what was reported on Thursday by CNN Portugal.

According to that television channel, Diogo Moura "knew that a secretary of the Lisbon district was at the polling station and sent her several messages asking her to introduce into the ballot boxes votes of members who did not appear at the polling station".

However, according to CNN Portugal, "the secretary of the district never agreed to the requests" and the case ended up being reported and investigated by the PSP, and the centrist mayor has now been formally charged by the 4th section of the DIAP (Department of Investigation and Criminal Action) of Lisbon.

Also on Thursday, in a reaction to CNN Portugal, Diogo Moura stated that he had never been "convicted" or "tried", "not even pronounced", assuring that he is "absolutely innocent".

On Friday, the PS and the Left Bloc defended the resignation of Diogo Moura.

The Lisbon council of the PS recalled, in a statement sent to Lusa, that, "on 24 April 2021, in an interview with Público, Carlos Moedas guaranteed that as mayor he would never be working directly with a councilman who is under suspicion of any type of case".

"None of this is happening now, with a formal judicial accusation, in what is the litmus test of Carlos Moedas' word", could be read in the note from the socialists.

The PS, which has three elected members in the Lisbon City Council, demanded that Diogo Moura be immediately removed "from the coordination of electoral acts in the municipality".

The Left Bloc, also in a note sent to Lusa, also considered that Diogo Moura "is not in a position to maintain political functions in the municipality of Lisbon", urging Carlos Moedas to replace the mayor in office.

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