Law does not allow moving forward with desegregation less than six months before elections, decision only after June. Parliament expects rectification of hundreds of candidacies. In the district of Beja they entered 10 reversal processes.
As 184 parishes that want to separate again and, so, reverse the decision imposed by the ‘troika’ ten years ago, will have to wait for the European elections to see these wishes met. This if, in the meantime, they pass the criteria that are being evaluated in Parliament. And with the elections of 10 March, the process returns to the beginning.
According to the law created in 2021, which allows us to go back with the so-called ‘Relvas law’ (Miguel Relvas was, in 2013, Deputy Minister and responsible for the portfolio), “the creation of parishes is not permitted during the six-month period immediately preceding the date set for holding any elections at national level”. So, even parishes that meet the criteria to separate, will not see any proposal for a reversal in Parliament before 9 June 2024, date of the European Championships in Portugal.
Of all these processes, 10 are from Parish Unions in the District of Beja, what does it mean 5,4% of the total number of cases in the country, which means that more can be created 11 parishes to be added to existing ones. With the “Relvas Law”, the Beja district lost 25 percent of its parishes, passing 100 to 75. Once all processes were approved, they became 86 parishes in the district.
Beja: 10 processes- 5,4% of the national total
Processes approved in the Municipal Assemblies and sent to the Assembly of the Republic: Aljustrel – Proposal to disaggregate the Union of Parishes of Aljustrel and Rio de Moinhos- 2 new parishes, Almodôvar – Proposal to disaggregate the Union of parishes of Almodôvar and Graça dos Padrão- 2, Almodôvar – Proposal to desegregate the Union of Parishes of Santa-Clara-a-Nova and Gomes Aires- 2, Castro Verde – Proposal to disaggregate the Union of parishes of Castro Verde and Casével- 2, Ferreira do Alentejo – Proposal for desegregation Union of Parishes of Alfundão and Peroguarda- 2, Ferreira do Alentejo – Proposal for desegregation Union of Parishes of Ferreira do Alentejo and Canhestros- 2, Moura – Proposal for desegregation Union of Parishes of Safara and Santo Aleixo da Restauração- 2, Odemira – Proposal for the desegregation of the Parish of Bicos, Colos and Vale of Santiago- 3 new, Ourique – Proposal for desegregation Union of Parishes of Garvão and Santa Luzia- 2 and Serpa – Proposal for the desegregation of the Parishes of Vila Nova de S. Benedict and Vale de Vargo- 2.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
