Opposition party members in Castro Marim Council have slammed the decision by Mayor Francisco Amaral to force a Council by-election.
Social Democrat, Amaral, said on Tuesday that he is resigning in early February and will hold mid-term Council elections in April on the grounds that he can’t get anything done as Councillors from the Socialist Party and the independent Castro Marim First movement, block everything he tries to implement.
Francisco Amaral acknowledged his inability to govern from his minority position and has taken decisive action to remedy the impasse.
Socialist Councillor, Célia Brito, and Castro Marim First’s, José Estevens, said that the mayor’s actions show that he is not able to lead without an absolute majority.
The PSD Party won the October 2017 municipal elections in Castro Marim, but the party remained in the minority, after losing a Councillor to CM1, who came to play a crucial role between the two Social Democrat and the two Socialist Party Councillors.
Célia Brito said that Amaral's resignation was, "a novelty," adding that, although the mayor says he can not govern, “this is not true," while dismissing his argument that there is a "blockade" to his management and that it is perfectly feasible to govern a Council when in a in a minority.
Jose Estevens said that the mayor's argument "is not entirely true, because he never saw a budget rejected and there has not been a municipal vote that has gone against him.”
