The Municipal Assembly of Oeiras failed this Tuesday a motion of censure, by Chega, which defended the suspension of the mandate of the president of the Chamber, Isaltino Morais, following an accusation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding meal expenses.
The document was rejected, by a majority, with votes against by those elected from the movement Isaltino Inovar Oeiras 25 (INOV), PS, Evoluir Oeiras (Livre/BE/Volt), CDU (PCP/PEV) and PAN, the abstention of IL and the favorable votes of Chega’s municipal deputies, proponents of the proposal.
The motion was presented by Chega after the Public Prosecutor’s Office accused the mayor of Oeiras, in the district of Lisbon, and 22 others responsible for the alleged practice of crimes of embezzlement and abuse of power, related to expenses exceeding 150 thousand euros in meals.
During the debate, several political forces criticized Chega’s motion for confusing accusation with conviction and for violating the principle of presumption of innocence, although they defended the need for political scrutiny and transparency in the use of public money.
The mayor of Oeiras reiterated that the approximately 150 thousand euros in meal expenses relate to seven years and thousands of meals, once again rejecting the idea of misuse of public money.
“There is an attempt to create a scandal due to the amount involved, 150 thousand euros in seven years”, when, in reality, there are more than “5000 meals”, highlighted the mayor.
The Oeiras Municipal Assembly is made up of 21 deputies elected by the Inov25 movement, three from the PS, three from Chega, two from the Livre/BE/Volt coalition, two from IL, one from the CDU and one from the PAN. The five council presidents elected by Inov25 are also municipal deputies.
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