Carlos Moedas takes on the Culture portfolio at Lisbon City Council
The president of the Lisbon City Council, Carlos Moedas, "will take over the Culture portfolio", after the suspension of the mandate of councilman Diogo Moura, who will be replaced by Joana Oliveira Costa, still without portfolios, according to a source from the local authority.
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País Lisboa
The municipality's source told Lusa today that the inauguration will take place on Thursday and that the mayor's responsibilities, a councilwoman in a substitution regime since 2021, will be made public "in due time".
Read Also: Moedas withdraws proposal to alienate seven municipal plots in Lisbon (Portuguese version)
The number of women with responsibilities in the municipality thus increases to four, while three men will be left managing portfolios.
Joana Oliveira Costa, from CDS, has been vice-president of the Lisbon Municipal Political Commission of the party since 2022 and is a student of the Law degree at the Catholic University of Lisbon.
The young woman, a member of the National Political Commission of the Popular Youth since 2023, was a co-founder of "Politically Correct", a political literacy project presented as non-partisan and independent.
The councillor for Culture of the Lisbon City Council (CML), also from CDS, suspended his mandate last week, at the request of the mayor, days after having been formally accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the crime of fraud in two internal elections of the Christian Democrats.
In a written statement sent to Lusa on Sunday, Carlos Moedas revealed that he had asked Diogo Moura "to suspend his mandate, a request to which he immediately agreed".
The social democrat explained that, "despite the allegations that are imputed to him not referring to the mandate as a councillor", he considered "that there are no conditions for the councillor to continue to develop his work in favour of the people of Lisbon".
The mayor praised Diogo Moura's "excellent work, commitment and dedication" over the last two and a half years as a councillor, "in areas such as Innovation, Economy and Culture" (among his responsibilities were also the Relationship with the Parish Councils, Public Space, Supplies and Markets, the "Lojas com História" Programme or the Participatory Budget).
Also in a written note sent to Lusa, also on Sunday, Diogo Moura said that the mayor of Lisbon had asked him to suspend his mandate as councillor for Culture "to avoid the attacks that the opposition is directing at the executive" of the capital.
The Christian Democrat said that this process "has nothing to do" with his duties as mayor, "nor with the decisions of the council".
"The aforementioned process is not only external to the CML -- it is a matter of party acts -- but also 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 defended, claiming to be "absolutely innocent" and assuring that he will prove it.
The Public Prosecutor's Office accused Diogo Moura, who is also vice-president of CDS-PP, of "two aggravated electoral fraud crimes", for allegedly having tried to manipulate the votes of militants in two electoral acts (2019 and 2021), CNN Portugal reported on Thursday.
According to the 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 introduce into the ballot boxes votes from militants who did not show up at the polling station".
However, according to CNN Portugal, "the district secretary never agreed to the requests" and the case ended up being reported and investigated by the PSP.
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