Lisbon's Political Battle: Experience vs. Incompetence
As a former CDS member and advisor to the Vice-President of Lisbon City Council for four years, I offer this perspective without material interests. At 62, I have no need to please anyone.
When I joined Filipe Anacoreta Correia's office, it was with genuine desire to work for others rather than remain a perpetual critic. The same happened across other council offices: people eager to work, many independents without prior public sector experience.
Why did this happen? Because we believed things would be different with Moedas. And they were.
The Cost of Learning and Political Choices
Naturally, there were costs - the political cost of learning. Newcomers to any office need time to understand and absorb. That's life.
The PS prefers "professionals" - those who've moved from office to office for years. They're accommodations who question nothing, their livelihoods dependent on keeping their positions. They accept "reality" without discussion.
My approach was to question everything and everyone. To my surprise, the services are composed of excellent, dedicated professionals - poorly paid and mistreated by public opinion. I can affirm that the people I worked with could earn triple in the private sector.
The Stark Contrast: Moedas vs. Leitão
This is the great difference between Moedas and Leitão. Moedas continues to bet on change, on newcomers, on those not "addicted" to the system.
Alexandra Leitão's team is, to be polite, miserable. Carla Madeira, appearing as number two, is beneath any criticism. As president of the Misericórdia parish council, just ask her constituents... What will this character be as number two? Vice? Responsible for finances? There are limits, and the PS with this placement of Carla Madeira as number two has surpassed them all, by a wide margin.
In debates, Moedas tried to extract from Alexandra Leitão who would be her team. Who would do what? Why didn't Alexandra Leitão answer? I know. Because she doesn't know. Because if she won, she'd improvise. None of the PS candidates have empirical - much less academic - knowledge to be councilors of anything.
Questioning Competence and Alternative Parties
In the ending mandate, can anyone question the competence, probity, and added value that were hallmarks of Anacoreta Correia, Filipa Roseta, and Joana Almeida? Nobody can.
For someone from the right, it's sad to end up saying the difference lies with CDU. But it does. In Chega, the list approaches indigence, just like its shadow government. It's trawling with fine mesh...
When I arrived at the council, the PS "finance expert" went by the name Saraiva. When that character realized he actually understood little of the matter, he went to breathe other air as Metro administrator.
Inês Drummond - the other PS heavyweight in the city council - whose "quality" was repeating the same arguments exhaustively, in brain-picking style, moved to greener pastures as soon as she was accused of a crime as parish council president. The dregs remained. And it's these dregs, completed with weeds, that Alexandra Leitão presents as her list to Lisbon City Council.
The Unspoken Reality
Nobody talks about this: the lack of quality in Alexandra Leitão's team. As if any mayor could manage anything without a proper team.
Does the voter know who the people are and what the people from Bloco, PAN, and Livre defend? I don't believe so. If they knew, they wouldn't even consider their voting direction!
The PAN proposed in the Municipal Assembly - more than once - to end New Year's fireworks because it upset animals! Well, I, who had a dog that loved them, never noticed that he suffered from December 31st fireworks (and I live in Lisbon).
The same PAN proposed, in the Municipal Assembly - more than once - that children in schools only have vegetarian options. Is this the world they want?
The Bloco, for four years, limited itself to saying, in city council executive meetings, that Portugal 500 years ago was slave-owning. Matter that, as we know, is directly linked to the problem of urban hygiene in the city.
The Livre, convinced that every time they asked to speak, they were at the UN General Assembly, spoke about everything except the city. That is, about Lisbon.
The Hard Facts
This is the reality. They don't understand budgets. They don't understand mobility. They don't understand anything. But they understand the Palestine problem. This is what Lisbon City Council will become: A spokesperson for Hamas, for Maduro. For problems that aren't ours, Lisbon residents.
Moedas' team was excellent. Did he change it? Yes, so what? There must be renewal. If he wins - as I hope - in 4 years, he should change again. Irreplaceable? Only in the cemetery.
In the team now playing, Moedas presents a group of people loaded with experience: professional, academic, municipal. Does anyone doubt the capabilities of Gonçalo Reis, Joana Baptista, Diogo Moura, Vasco Moreira Rato, and Rodrigo Melo Gonçalves? Of course not. It's not possible. We know who they are and what they've done.
Once again: Who does the same? Nobody. Only CDU comes close, and poorly.
When you vote for prime minister, you don't know who will be the government. When you vote for a city council, it's not like that! Alexandra Leitão's "governmental" team is known. And it's miserable.
I end with facts. And against them, there are no arguments.
In this mandate and by PS opposition, Lisbon City Council was prevented from alienating assets (in PS times it was over 800 million...). But even so, who invested more?
This was the general picture. And in urban hygiene? Alexandra Leitão uses a fallacious argument that if more was spent and the (debatable) lack of hygiene continues, something went wrong. It's a lie because the explanation is simple (like Ockham's razor): If it weren't for the investment, it would be much worse!
The same happens in mobility: Many cars enter the city? Well yes, but many more would enter if not for the measures of Anacoreta Correia and Moedas!
Finally, via Centeno school, the PS opted for management discounts at the expense of investment. For English eyes. But not even then...
This executive, under Anacoreta Correia's baton in finances, ends the mandate with a potential high surplus, despite not being able to alienate assets and having pushed execution to the limit.
These are the current balances as of September 30 of each referenced year. That is, the lie that João Ferreira likes to repeat (Stalin school) doesn't become truth: The restitution of IRS to Lisbon residents who, through their work pay taxes, didn't harm the council.
In four years, without a majority and without all instruments at their disposal, this executive invested and executed. It didn't save for propaganda. Could it have done better? Of course. Does it have potential to do better? Without a doubt.
Alexandra Leitão's list doesn't give guarantees? It really doesn't.
It's up to you, Lisbon, to decide who you want.
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