Lisbon City Assembly welcomes demonstrators and repudiates vandalism

A Lisbon City Assembly today greeted protesters who have protested “peacefully” in defense of the right to housing and repudiated the acts of vandalism committed against the statue of D. Pedro IV in Rossio.

On the proposal of the PS, the assembly approved, with votes against the Aquida and the abstention of CDS-PP and IL, “to save citizens who, peacefully, have mobilized in Lisbon and the rest of the country in defense of the right to housing and against increasing the cost of living”.

From the PS's motion, the municipal deputies also decided to reaffirm that freedom of expression and the right of expression “are pillars of the democratic rule of law” and that “any intervention by the security forces must respect, without exception, the principles of necessity, adequacy and proportionality”.

With the votes against the right-wing majority (PSD, CDS-PP, IL and Ajuda), the PS points were rejected so that the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Coins (PSD), would inform the assembly about the participation of the Municipal Police and other services of the local authority “in the operations of October 20 and 25”, when the Public Security Police (PSP) intervened against protesters in Rossio.

André Biveti, from the PS, said that the housing crisis “is the biggest national scourge”, noting that “this is not an ideological statement, it is a fact”, and argued that the protests “are not therefore extravagant”, considering that the demonstrations have been “peaceful, orderly, proportional”.

“ Young people and young people who are camping are not a bizarre product of an extreme political creation,” the Socialist stressed, criticizing the interruption of demonstrations by police forces and condemning “strongly disproportionate violence to those who protest”.

In an allusion to the words of the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro (PSD), André Biveti questioned: “Who is selfish anyway? Who protests or represses?”

The assembly also approved part of BE's vote to welcome the popular mobilizations, a point made possible with votes against PSD, IL and Ajuda, and the abstention of the CDS-PP, having been rejected, with the opposition of the majority of the right, "reaffirm that the right to housing and the rights of assembly, demonstration and expression must be fully respected and protected by the Portuguese State".

Rodrigo Machado, from BE, appealed to the Prime Minister “not to fall into temptation, for purely egoistic reasons, to import to Portugal a climate of instability, violence and police repression that has not actually supported Portuguese society” and considered that the images of police intervention “shame any democrats”.

“ It was an unfortunate demonstration of the weakness of the state and of this government, because if the aim was to remove the focus, oppress or intimidate those who manifest themselves precisely by housing, let me tell you: failed. This solidarity and this belief that another country is possible does not move to batonada ", said the bloquist.

On a proposal from the Aquida, approved with the right-wing majority, the assembly decided to repudiate the acts of vandalism in the statue of D. Pedro IV in Rossio, and any other acts of degradation of the public heritage in the context of recent demonstrations.

The protests “are against the democratic order and are not about the right to housing,” said Ms Bentes Penedo, considering that “household is the pretext for importing to Portugal the external demonstrations and the contempt and insurrections that began in France”.

The PCP also presented a vote of greeting to the demonstrations for housing, increased wages and against the increase in the cost of living, but was rejected by the right-wing majority, having Communist elected Natacha Amaro accused the municipal management PSD/CDS-PP/IL of “privileging the interests of tourism and real estate”, to the detriment of the needs of those living, studying and working in the city.

João Monteiro, do Livre, reinforced that the demonstrations “have been absolutely peaceful” and that “nothing justifies violence,” while Joana Silva, from the ENP, said that it is time to give political response to the concerns that are in the streets and “not to silence rights”, and António Morgado Valente, from the PAN, stressed that the right of manifestation “is clearly enshrined in the law”.

During the discussion, in which the PSD was the only party that did not intervene, Francisco Camacho, from the CDS-PP, criticized the positions taken by PS, BE and PCP and said that “it does not matter the nationality or accent of those who protest, but it matters the passport”, asked “what people is this who stop in Lisbon to then go to another capital or European city where the spirits need to be exalted”.

From the IL, José Miguel Cerdeira praised the merit of fighting for the right to housing, but considered that the same “is not fulfilled with this finca-pé”, nor with the deliberate intention of “soccupying the public space illegally at dawn”.

In representation of the chamber, Councilman Rodrigo Mello Gonçalves (IL) once again said that the executive is sympathetic to the cause of the protests, without commenting on the actions of the police, and reinforced that the right to the demonstration exists in Lisbon, which “is the scene of an average of 700 demonstrations per year”.