CML intends to name “Avenue 25 November” the section of the Central Axis

A Câmara de Lisboa intends to assign the top name “Avenida 25 de Novembro (1975)” to the section of the Central Axis adjacent to Avenida Álvaro Cunhal, in Lumiar, and that of “Avenida Jorge Sampaio (1939-2021)” in another section of the Central Axis.

Subscribed by the Councilor of Culture, Diogo Moura (CDS-PP), the proposals will be discussed and voted on at the next private meeting of the municipal executive, scheduled for Wednesday, it is expected that they will be approved with the absolute majority of the PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership (who has been elected from the Enough that has paraded from the party).

Diogo Moura also proposes the award of the Municipal Medal of Cultural Merit to actress Maria Rueff and television host Eládio Clímaco.

The top name “Avenida 25 de Novembro (1975)” should be attributed to the section of the Central Axis between Rotunda Nelson Mandela and Rotunda Coronel Vítor Alves, adjacent to Avenida Álvaro Cunhal, Alta de Lisboa, in the parish of Lumiar.

“The 25th of November 1975 is one of the decisive moments of recent Portuguese history, which took place in a period of profound political, social and military transformation that began with the Revolution of 25 April 1974, which ended almost five decades of dictatorship and opened the way in Portugal to the construction of a new political order, in freedom and democracy”, reads the proposal.

Emphasizing that the 25 November ended the Revolutionary Process in progress (PREC), of which the communist Alvaro Cunhal was part, the councilman of the CDS-PP indicates that the date “deeply altered the correlation of political and military forces, determining the weakening of the most radicalized sectors and the so-called military left, as well as the prevalence of forces favorable to the progressive institutionalization of a representative and pluralist democracy”.

For this reason, Councilman Diogo Moura points out, recalling November 25, 1975, means “revisiting a time when different conceptions of democracy, democratic transition, transformation and revolution were faced in a country still in search of a new political organization, and recognizing a decisive stage in the path begun on April 25, 1974, which would lead to the progressive affirmation of electoral legitimacy, political pluralism, constitutional institutions”.

The top name “Avenida Jorge Sampaio (1939-2021)”, which recalls the PS politician who was president of the Lisbon City Council and President of the Republic, should be attributed to the route constituted by section 2 of the Central Axis, located between Rotunda Coronel Vítor Alves and Avenida Nuno Krus Abecasis, in the parishes of Lumiar and Santa Clara.

“ His civic, political, institutional and international intervention, as well as what he represents for the construction and consolidation of Portuguese democracy, for the city of Lisbon and for the defense of universal values of human rights, consecrate Jorge Sampaio as a personality whose memory and legacy are of recognized significance for the community and for future generations ", considers the alderman of Culture.

President of the Lisbon City Council between 1990 and 1995, Jorge Sampaio “pugnored for a strategic vision and culture of development of the city,” said Centrist Diogo Moura, recalling that the contribution of the former socialist mayor in urban rehabilitation projects and qualification of the public space, including in the eradication of buildings without minimum housing conditions, commonly called tents.

“ During his term of office, Lisbon assumed, in 1994, the distinction of European Capital of Culture, an event that contributed to the affirmation and projection of the city as a European capital ", recalls.

As President of the Republic, a position for which he was elected in 1996 and reelected in 2001, Jorge Sampaio exercised “a magistrateship of civic intervention and proximity, guided by the defense of democratic values, fundamental rights, and by attention to the main challenges of Portuguese society”, particularly in the areas of education, immigration, justice, social exclusion and innovation, “having sought to bring institutions closer to citizens,” Councilman Diogo Moura highlights.

Currently, the municipal executive of Lisbon integrates eight elected PSD/CDS-PP/IL (including the president, Carlos Coins) and an independent former Enough, who together rule with an absolute majority, with nine of the 17 members of the House, having in opposition four councilors of the PS, one of the Free, one of the BE, one of the PCP and one of the Enough.