Despite being included in this year's municipal budget, the measure would still have to be approved by the entire Lisbon City Council, which would be "difficult" with a left-wing majority, points out Carlos Moedas.
In his election campaign, candidate Carlos Moedas had promised "cheaper EMEL for Lisbon residents". In this year's municipal budgetAccording to the report, President Carlos Moedas had budgeted the measure at 2.5 million euros - an amount that the municipality would pay EMEL for reducing the price of parking for those who live in the city. Now, Moedas says the measure is not a priority and has put it on the back burner.
"The idea was that those who live in Lisbon would pay less than those who come from outside. But I have to prioritize measures and I didn't prioritize this one"he explained in a great interview with Expresso newspaper this weekend, recognizing that it would be "a difficult measure to pass in this executive". Moedas will instead fight for a reduction of the IMT [Municipal Property Transfer Tax] for young people who want to buy a house in Lisbon, another promise that he says is also difficult.
Despite being budgeted for and approved in that budget, the reduction in parking fees for residents in Lisbon would require a revision of the General Regulations for Parking and Stopping on Public Roads (RGEPVP)This couldn't be done without a majority both in the City Council and then in the Municipal Assembly. Now, since the left is unanimously critical of the parking measure, it would be very difficult for Moedas to get it approved; eventually, it would require some internal negotiation - for example, Moedas could get the discounts at EMEL in exchange for a measure that the opposition wanted to pass.
It was never clear how the 50% reduction in EMEL fares could be done, since EMEL is not yet in every parish and neighborhood in the city (it is only expected to cover the entire city by 2025)This means that a large proportion of people who live in Lisbon are not yet customers of the company - in other words, there are residents in the city who EMEL doesn't know are customers because they aren't in the company's database. In January, the President of EMEL, Luís Natal Marques, had presented a report on this very reason, concerns regarding the application of this discount.
Airport must be a technical decision
In the same interview with Expresso, Carlos Moedas spoke again about the Avenida da Liberdade and the reduction of speed limits. "We know that we have to move towards decarbonization, but the question is: does it make sense to close an avenue of that size? And I ask you if any of you would remember walking in the middle of the avenue"It makes a lot more sense" to close a block in a neighborhood, as the people heard at the first and last session of the Citizens' Council suggested. "There's a certain imposition from the radical left, who think they know what people want, which contrasts with my attitude, which is to listen to what people want. I have nothing against the goal. What can't happen is that, from one day to the next, I'm confronted with the closure of the Avenida or the measure to lower speeds by 10 km/h."
On the reduction of limits, which was also proposed by Livre, Moedas says that "we always have the habit of legislating instead of monitoring, but what is needed is for people to comply with what already exists"; the Mayor pointed out that the 30 km/h limit that is already set on several streets, sections or even entire blocks and neighborhoods is not generally complied with because "there is no supervision".
Rejecting taxing the entry of cars into the city (because "I represent a political force that is very tired of taxes") and reiterating the aim of building parks at the entrance to the city ("the idea is that people leave their cars there for a very low fee"), Moedas also spoke of having Carris with "more frequent buses". "Restrictions on cars must exist. And they will exist in the future, progressively. But more than that, how are we going to restrict cars that are more than ten years old and pollute the city? How are we going to have more electric cars? We have to think in big numbers and what we can do with them"said the current Mayor of Lisbon.
In the same interviewThere was also room to talk about Lisbon's new airport. For Moedas, "the most important thing is to have a new airport"He called for the decision to be technical. "Whether it's Montijo or Alcochete, Lisbon needs a new airport. And for me this should be a technical choice and one for the whole government. The mayor will be on the side of the solution. I've heard the Prime Minister say that it's the leader of the opposition who makes this choice, and we can make a triangulation of choices here between the government, the new PSD leader and the Mayor"he told Expresso.
