"What matters now, in the case of the entire country and, therefore, also the Azores, is that there is availability, with a constitutional revision that enhances a reinforcement of power and recognition of democratic local power in Portugal in government action and in the fair distribution of national wealth, a deep and supportive reform of the financial regime of local power is also made that includes the parishes", said José Manuel Bolieiro.

The head of the Azorean executive spoke this afternoon in the town of Madalena, on the island of Pico, at the closing of the IX Regional Meeting of Parish Mayors of the Azores, organized by the Regional Delegation of the Azores of the National Association of Parishes (ANAFRE).

In his speech, he admitted that, today, probably, "a reflection on a new financial regime for local authorities, a new law on local finances, is more urgent than an exercise of distribution of responsibility".

"Because what really matters is to say, what is fair and true, that (...), until today, the financial regime has always been insufficient, unfair and unjust, so that the attributions currently attributed to local power, whether municipal or parish, have benefited", justified José Manuel Bolieiro.

For the president of the Regional Government of the Azores, "this should be a banner of the local authorities of Portugal".

In the same session, the coordinator of the Azores Delegation of ANAFRE, Manuel António Soares, also defended "a new impetus in the process and decentralization in relation to the parishes, expanding their attributions and competences and increasing the corresponding financial transfers".

"In the case of the Azores and Madeira, the adoption of a specific decentralization process is justified, with a law of attributions and competences for the parishes of the Azores, justified by the existence of a level of power - regional power -, between the central power and local power", he said.

The same official stated that the Azores Delegation of ANAFRE and the mayors of the region are available to participate in a broad working group, which also involves the Regional Government "for the preparation of a preliminary draft Law to be presented to the Legislative Assembly that contemplates this claim".

The official also said that the parishes want a model of cooperation with the autonomous regional administration "adapted to the new administrative reality of the country and the region, more flexible in its execution, more ambitious in its objectives and less bureaucratic in its processing, allowing for better management of financial resources and a better response to the Azoreans".

"The Azores Delegation of ANAFRE looks forward to the new regime of technical and financial cooperation with the parishes, which is taking a long time to be approved and come into force", he also pointed out.

Manuel António Soares asked the Regional Government "not to waste any more time and to quickly introduce this legislative initiative in parliament, so that it can be discussed and approved" and called for a "broad consensus" in the Legislative Assembly for the approval of the Region's Budget for 2024.

Read Also: Autonomous Region "has the vocation to be the State of the Azores" (Portuguese version)