What’s the point of winning the election if it doesn’t serve to implement the policies I defended? After the celebration of triumph, this doubt will now be on the minds of many mayors elected last Sunday, especially those who failed to obtain a majority in their respective municipal councils.
As DN explained, approximately one in four mayors is forced to reach post-election understandings or negotiate measure by measure with the opposition to advance their decisions, as they do not have a majority of councilors in the municipal executive they lead. If in 2021 there were 50 local authorities in this situation, now the number has risen to 67, including some of the largest in the country, such as Lisbon, Porto, Gaia and Sintra.
This risk of sitting in the seat of power and, at the same time, being paralyzed in the scope of your political action by depending on third parties, can, in fact, be a storm for mayors, while for the opposition it represents a powerful tool to promote their ideas or block those that do not interest them. It is a correlation of forces that ends up, in some cases, subverting the will expressed by the majority of voters, as it empowers those who lost the election – especially if the opponent’s intention is simply to stop those who govern, without interest in seeking compromises.
This ability to influence policies from a minority allows, in fact, to look at the results of these local authorities and draw conclusions that go beyond simply who won and who lost. Take the case of Chega. Election night did not go as André Ventura expected, who, when the votes were still being counted, took for granted, for example, the election of mayors in the district of Setúbal, which did not happen. In the final balance, Chega still achieved three unprecedented victories in municipalities (Albufeira, Entroncamento and São Vicente), as many as Nós, Cidadãos and less than CDS (6) and CDU (12), parties whose number of deputies in the Assembly of the Republic does not even reach a tenth of those of André Ventura’s bench. However, the number of councilors elected by Chega skyrocketed from 19 to 137, spread across various chambers across the country.
Focusing on the ten most populous municipalities in Portugal, we see that in seven Chega councilors are not mere ‘decorative pieces’ of the executives, as their votes can either approve measures proposed by the mayor or stop the plans of those who lead (even if in some cases an understanding with other party forces is necessary to establish a negative majority). Having this ability to influence is having power. Real and effective.
This successive increase in the number of municipalities without majorities proves, according to what researcher João Cancela told DN, the growing fragmentation in the Portuguese electorate. That shouldn’t slow down anytime soon. PSD and PS have already admitted their desire to change the electoral law for local authorities, in order to reinforce the power of municipal executives.
Here, as in so many things in life, the challenge will be to find the balance point: It is true that action is expected from a mayor and that he does not become a kind of hostage to the opposition, but at the same time, in order to respect the will of the voter, winning a local election cannot give the mayor carte blanche to do whatever he wants, as happens when there are presidential elections in sports clubs.
What we ask for is common sense from mayors and councillors, from everyone. And that they always, every day, put the interests of the population they serve at the top of their priorities, instead of partisan interests. It seems simple, but it requires a sense of responsibility and humility. The problem is that these, unfortunately, these days are qualities at risk of extinction.
Executive Editor of Diário de Notícias