Glória: Lisbon candidates criticize Moedas and ask for clarification

The accident at the Elevador da Glória was one of the main topics of a debate with some of the candidates for the presidency of the Lisbon City Council in the local elections on October 12, organized by CNN, in which Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP), Alexandra Leitão (PS/Livre/BE/PAN), João Ferreira (CDU-PCP/PEV) and Bruno Mascarenhas (Chega) participated.

"If there are new facts, they shouldn't be discussed in the public square; they should be discussed in the Lisbon City Council. And this must happen before the elections. We can't avoid responsibility," Alexandra Leitão argued.

The candidate who heads a coalition formed by the PS, Livre, BE and PAN criticized the current mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, for refusing the opposition's request for an extraordinary meeting on Thursday about the accident with the Glória elevator, having scheduled the meeting for October 13, the day after the local elections.

"There are new facts that cannot be ignored," explained Alexandra Leitão, referring to a journalistic investigation that revealed the existence of two technical accidents, in October 2024 and May of this year, as well as letters from the Carris workers' committee warning of maintenance failures.

In the same vein, the CDU candidate, João Ferreira, accused Carlos Moedas of being contradictory, since in the two extraordinary meetings on this topic "he never informed the opposition that he had received a letter from the Carris workers' committee", defending a "full investigation of what happened".

"Either Carlos Moedas understands that there are no explanations to be given and does not schedule a City Council meeting, or if he schedules a City Council meeting, it is because he understands that there are explanations to be given and does not do so for three weeks from now," said the communist candidate.

Chega's candidate, Bruno Mascarenhas, went further in his criticism, arguing that Carlos Moedas "shouldn't even be a candidate for Lisbon City Council".

"Given the data we have today, engineer Moedas should have already fired the Carris board of directors and the transport councilor. A reality like this cannot be ignored, when 16 people died," he observed.

In response, Carlos Moedas rejected the criticism, accusing the opposition of "politicizing a tragedy"

"We're talking about a technical failure, and I've launched not only an internal investigation, but an external, independent investigation, as well as the investigation being conducted by the Government Studies Office. Therefore, we have to wait for the results of that investigation. That's the only thing I'm asking for," the re-election candidate emphasized.

Regarding the two accidents that occurred in October 2024 and in May of this year in the Glória elevator (without injuries), which were not disclosed, Carlos Moedas argued that they were "small" incidents and pointed out that a transport company like Carris records more than 1,600 occurrences per year.

"We can't turn this into a political weapon two weeks before the elections," said the Social Democratic mayor, who also showed the letter from the workers' committee, insisting that "not once does it mention the Glória elevator or other elevators."

The mayor also assured that "all information is available to the monitoring committee already created" and reiterated that "political responsibility is assumed for the investment made in Carris and in maintenance".

The debate also discussed the issue of urban hygiene and garbage collection, with criticism of the current leadership's management and the decentralization of powers to the parishes.

Carlos Moedas advocated for the return to a more centralized model and the expansion of unsorted waste collection to six days a week.

Alexandra Leitão advocated for greater decentralization and criticized the current management of urban hygiene in Lisbon.

"Lisbon has never been so dirty. Lisbon has never smelled so bad. Lisbon has never had such neglected public spaces," he said.

The issue of housing was another topic addressed in the debate, with Carlos Moedas highlighting the Affordable Income program and the delivery of 2,881 keys during his term, half to young professionals and half to families in vulnerable situations.

"We've helped more than 4,200 families pay their rent. It's very important to see what project we want to continue in the future," he noted.

The mayor also assured that Lisbon City Council is in talks with the Government about public housing properties available and has already sent letters to ministers requesting that state buildings be used to respond to the housing emergency.

Mobility and security were other topics covered in the debate.

The candidates running for the Lisbon City Council in the local elections on October 12 are: Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), Alexandra Leitão (PS/Livre/BE/PAN), João Ferreira (CDU-PCP/PEV), Bruno Mascarenhas (Chega), Ossanda Líber (New Right), José Almeida (Volt), Adelaide Ferreira (ADN), Tomaz Ponce Dentinho (PPM/PTP) and Luís Mendes (RIR).

Currently, the municipal executive includes seven elected members from the "Novos Tempos" coalition - PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança, seven elected members from the "Mais Lisboa" coalition - PS/Livre, two from the CDU and one from the BE.

Read Also: Glory? Leitão accuses Moedas of confusing politicization with scrutiny