Lisbon. PS and BE request resignation of councilman accused of electoral fraud
PS and Bloco de Esquerda defended today the dismissal of the Culture councilor of the Lisbon City Council, Diogo Moura (CDS-PP), who was accused by the Public Prosecution Service (MP) of fraud crimes in two internal elections of the Christian Democrats.
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Política Fraude
The issue is an order from the Public Prosecutor's Office that accuses the vice-president of the CDS-PP of "two aggravated electoral fraud crimes", for allegedly trying to manipulate the votes of members in two electoral acts (2019 and 2021), according to CNN Portugal on Thursday.
In statements sent to Lusa today, both the Lisbon PS and the Left Bloc urged the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), to replace Diogo Moura.
"On 24 April 2021, in an interview with Público, Carlos Moedas guaranteed that as mayor he would never work directly with a councillor 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", reads the socialists' note.
The PS, which has three elected members in the Lisbon City Council, demands that Diogo Moura be immediately removed "from the coordination of electoral acts in the municipality".
"It is incomprehensible and unacceptable that someone accused of electoral fraud can continue to coordinate the holding of elections in the largest city in the country", they stressed.
In a short note sent to Lusa, the Left Bloc also considers that Diogo Moura "is not in a position to hold political office in the municipality of Lisbon", urging Carlos Moedas to replace the mayor in office.
Lusa contacted the Lisbon City Council to obtain a reaction from the mayor, but he declined to comment.
According to CNN Portugal, Diogo Moura "knew that a secretary from the Lisbon district was at the polling station and sent her several messages asking her to put votes from members who did not show up at the polling station into the ballot boxes".
However, according to the same source, "the district secretary 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.
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".
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