In a written note sent to Lusa, Diogo Moura also states that the mayor of Lisbon (CML), Carlos Moedas, asked him to suspend his mandate as culture councilor "to avoid the attacks that the opposition is directing at the executive" of the capital's local authority.

The president of the CML, Carlos Moedas (PSD), revealed today, in a written statement sent to Lusa, that he asked Diogo Moura "to suspend his mandate, a request that he immediately agreed to".

The Public Ministry accused Diogo Moura, who is also vice-president of CDS-PP, of "two aggravated electoral fraud crimes" for allegedly trying to manipulate the votes of members in two electoral acts (2019 and 2021), as reported on Thursday by CNN Portugal.

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

However, also 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, with the centrist mayor now being formally accused by the 4th section of the DIAP (Department of Investigation and Criminal Action) of Lisbon.

In the note sent today to Lusa, Diogo Moura states that this process "has nothing to do" with his duties as a councilor, "nor with council decisions".

"The aforementioned process is not only external to the CML -- it involves party acts -- as it refers to a time well before the current municipal mandate. I have not been indicted, tried or convicted. The nature of the process is that of a personal attack without foundation", he argues.

Diogo Moura claims to be "absolutely innocent" and guarantees that he will prove it.

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

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 April 24, 2021, in an interview with Público, Carlos Moedas guaranteed that as mayor he would never be working directly with a councilor 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 for Carlos Moedas' word", read the socialists' note.

The PS, which has three elected officials in the Lisbon 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.

Read Also: Vereador da Cultura de Lisboa suspendeu mandato a pedido de Moedas (Portuguese version)